One Last Hope: Dumbledore’s Army
by Pikachu the Conqueror
Summary: Set in Book 5. Amy doesn't feel like she belongs in the world...at least until fate flies, quite literally, in through the window, and her world is turned upside down...
1. A Shocking Surprise

Author's Note: (ok I'll keep this short) Ok, I decided to write this fic 'cause I got an idea for one. (There see? It was short)

Well, it was originally, but now I have to point something out to avoid confusion. The chapter introduction just below says "One Last Hope" and doesn't have the rest of the title. This is because this fic is the first of my One Last Hope trilogy, and the chapter intro will be counting the total number of chapters in the trilogy. Now that that's all cleared up…

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the characters, except the ones you don't recognize; I made those up. There, you can't sue me now! HA!

Anyway, hope you like.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

_One Last Hope_ Chapter 1: A Shocking Surprise 

Amy sat perched in a maple tree, her head back as she leaned against a branch and listened to the leaves rustling in her ears. The wind blew her long red hair into her green eyes so that she constantly had to push it back. Finally she gave up with a sigh. She was very tired because she hadn't been able to sleep last night due to a strange dream. She placed her hand on her forehead and shut her eyes tight as she tried to remember it. It had been very weird…she had been in a mansion, or maybe a castle…yes, it had been a castle; it had been to big to be an ordinary house…and there had been paintings, lots of paintings. Although, the paintings had been strange too…she couldn't remember why…. The last thing she saw before the image of her dream faded away was a red room.

"Tomas! What have I told you about cleaning your room?"

Amy's eyes snapped open as her mother's angry voice floated out through the window.

"Aw, Mom, do I have to?" came her brother's instant reply.

Amy groaned as she listened to her brother arguing with her mother for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Her family was always fighting, and she never wanted to be a part of it. But it was hard to escape, even in her favorite tree in the front yard of their small house. Her mother, who had a full time job as a real estate agent, never had the time to be with her children; they were by themselves most of the day. Her ten-year-old brother, Tomas, didn't help matters; all he ever seemed to do was complain. Her father had died when she was two. The doctors said it had been a heart attack.

Amy punched her knee in frustration. _It's just not fair_…she thought. _Why are they_ _always fighting?_ Amy didn't spend much time at her house. Most days after school she went to her best friend Tara's house until she had to go home for dinner. Tara's mother was so used to seeing Amy at their house that she asked Tara where her friend was if Amy had to go home early. Amy was glad she could do her homework with Tara. It wasn't that she wasn't smart, she understood the things she was taught, but Amy would often need Tara's help to complete an assignment. _It's probably because nothing interests me_, she thought. She didn't know why, but she found almost everything that her teacher taught her at school boring. She would often let her attention wander by accident, which would usually earn her a stern look from her teacher, Mrs. Adams. _She doesn't understand anything!_ Amy thought bitterly. _She keeps telling me to pay attention, but she doesn't do anything to_ _keep my attention on her!_ Tara, however, was the perfect student, always studying hard and doing her best. Amy didn't mind; Tara was a great friend, and even though she sometimes got annoyed, she always helped Amy with her schoolwork.

The angry voices coming from the living room brought her thoughts back to the present. Amy tried to block them out and focus her attention on something else. It was a bright August evening, and very hot. She looked through the branches and down the street. All of the houses looked exactly the same, with one tree in each front yard. Each house had a small driveway, only big enough for one car, all of which were dotted with blue recycling boxes, emptied by the truck that had driven by that morning. How they had fit that many houses on such a small street, she could only guess. But simply looking at her street wasn't enough to block the argument, now coming through the open window at particularly high volumes. Amy just sighed and laid her head back. She was so tired of listening to them argue…so tired…

"AMY!"

Amy woke with a start and lost her balance. She tumbled forwards and fell. She braced herself for impact…but it never came. She opened her eyes to see herself standing upright. She let her arms fall, eyes wide in wonder. _How did I do that? What's_ _going on?_ She just stood their, her heart racing. Other things like this had happened before, but not very often, and always to her. Like that time she had been racing home from Tara's for dinner, knowing she going to be grounded for being late, when suddenly she had found herself at her front door. Or the time she had had to wear her mom's old gray sweater because hers were all dirty. She had gone to school, expecting to be laughed at, but no one said anything, they all seemed to think she was wearing her favorite blue sweater. She certainly felt the same as she had then.

She was so startled that she didn't hear her mother yelling at her until she was right in front of her, screaming at her to "…GET IN THE KITCHEN RIGHT NOW YOUNG LADY!"

She walked clumsily into the house and sat down at the table, hardly noticing what she was doing, much less listening to her mother, still shaken by what had happened. She just nodded at her, and served herself potatoes, her hands shaking slightly, her mother still rambling on about how she should act her age; "…eleven-year-olds don't ignore their mother completely and forget what time dinner's at…you should be ashamed of yourself…"

Amy pretended to listen while her mother rambled on for another while. Finally, she seemed to calm down and began to eat; at least until another argument broke out between her and Tomas about how much broccoli he had to eat. Amy hurriedly ate her dinner and then left for the safety of her room, where she flopped onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow, where she tried to find an explanation to falling out of the tree without landing. It was so strange…yet it almost felt normal somehow… She was certainly different from other people. Amy had never really felt like she belonged in the world. Well, except when she was with Tara, who always understood her and was always there to help her out.

She soon got too tired to think. The many hours of sleep she had lost last night were catching up with her.

She was just falling into an uneasy sleep when she heard a sharp tapping noise.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: So, this chappie has been re-edited. I'm gonna do that for the whole fic. Let me just say that I am officially ashamed at the number of spelling/grammar mistakes I found. Yikes. But they're fixed now (hopefully all of them).

First part of original author's note has been deleted because she feels it portrayed her as pathetic and now has more confidence in her writing. Please review and let me know what you think. I know pretty much how I'm going to write this story but I need to know if people like it. So review! I know it was probably a bit boring, but I gotta start the fic somewhere! It'll get more interesting later, I promise.


	2. Questions and Answers

A/N: Okay, I'm sorry if you found the last chapter kind of boring, but again, I promise it will get better. I just need to start this off.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, you can bet I'd be in Hawaii (which I'm not).

………………………………………………………………………………………………

_One Last Hope_

_Chapter 2: Questions and Answers_

Amy sat up with a start. She was a very light sleeper and got startled easily. She held her breath, looking around wildly. Then she heard it again. She whipped around to find, staring at her from outside her window, _an owl._

Amy stifled a scream and leapt backwards. She had never seen an owl before, much less met one who would stand on someone's windowsill. _It can't hurt you_, she thought, _it can't get through the glass_. Very, very carefully, she walked forwards to get a closer look at it. It was only then that she noticed that it was carrying _a letter_. Amy had read how people had used birds for messengers, but only a long time ago, and they had certainly _not_ been owls. She looked closer at the letter, and saw to her astonishment that it was addressed to _her_. _That's it_, she thought, _I'm losing it! No, I'm just dreaming, that's all. I'll go back to bed and wake up in the morning to find it never happened_.

She lay back down and settled into the covers, but the owl would not give up that easily. Amy's feet had barely left the floor when it was tapping on the window again. She tried to ignore it, but it was no use, the owl just kept tapping, getting louder and louder. Finally, she gave in, thinking that if it weren't a dream, it would wake up the others. She got up and headed over to the window.

"What?" she demanded, knowing but not really caring that it could not understand her. The owl, however, hooted from behind the glass. _It wants me to let it in!_ She realized, not knowing how that thought had popped into her head. _It wants me to let it in so it can give me my letter._ She gazed at the owl hesitantly, but when she received a reassuring hoot she carefully opened the window and lifted out the screen. Amy let out a cry and jumped backwards as the bird flew into the room and landed on her bed. She froze, listening for the sounds of her mother or brother getting up. When she heard none, she sighed with relief and then turned to the owl, which was now sticking out its leg. Amy swallowed her fear and hurried forwards to untie the letter bound to its leg, wanting to get it out of the house as soon as possible. Sure enough, as soon as the letter was off, the owl hooted softly to her and then spread its wings and flew out the window.

Amy watched the bird go, eyes wide in wonder. She stood there for a very long time, asking herself how it was possible for an owl to deliver her a letter. She was brought back to reality when she felt the cold night wind blow her hair around her. She leapt forward and put the screen back in before closing the window. _I must have lay awake thinking for a very long time_, she thought; the sky was pitch black except for the sliver of the moon high in the sky. She looked at her alarm clock and saw that it was now one in the morning.

But Amy wasn't the least bit tired. She looked back at her bed where the brown envelope was addressed to her in green ink. _Should I leave it for tomorrow and ask Mom about it? _She wondered. She surely did not know the person who the letter was from, and it might be safer if she did. But she knew she would never get to sleep without reading the contents of the envelope. She sat down on the edge of the bed and opened the letter. Her jaw promptly dropped.

Her eyes got wider and wider as she read the letter. Finally, she looked up. _I have a place at **what**?_ She reread the letter, and questions exploded inside her mind. _They want me to go to a wizard school? They await my owl? Term begins September the first?_ She felt light-headed. This was a joke. It had to be. Yet, she found herself almost wishing it were real. It would explain so much about her. Why she didn't seem to fit in, why strange things happened to her, like earlier when she had fallen out of the tree. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. _NO_, she thought suddenly, shaking herself. _This is a joke. Or a dream. But it's not real, it can't be._

After thinking for a minute, she lay down in her bed and pushed the letter under her pillow. If this wasn't all a dream, and it was there in the morning, she would show the letter to her mum and tell her she had received a joke. She then closed her eyes, feeling stupid for believing the letter, even if it had been only for a moment, but the back of her mind couldn't help but hope it was true. They had sent a real owl after all…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Amy woke up from a troubled sleep several hours later. It took her a few minutes to realize why she felt so troubled. She was just peering out the window at the faint morning light when she remembered. She laid back and groaned. She had hardly slept at all. According to her alarm clock, it was seven o'clock. Her mum would not be awake yet. She was just thinking of getting some more sleep when she heard a huge thump. Of course, her brother was already up and causing mayhem. She would never be able to sleep with that racket. Sighing, she got up and, without bothering to change out of her pajamas, went to get breakfast.

Amy spent three hours with an agonizing headache (due, of course, to her brother's noise) before her mother came into the kitchen looking refreshed.

"What's up Amy?" she asked upon seeing the girl, now properly dressed, who was sitting at the table with her head on it and her hands covering her ears.

"What?" she asked, looking up, "Oh no, I just have a bit of a headache, but-"

"A headache?" her mother interrupted, "We'd better get you some Tylenol."

Amy had to spend the next five minutes taking medicine just to make her mother happy before she could even mention the letter.

"Mum," she said, before her mother could start talking again, "I got this strange letter last night. I think it was a joke."

"Oh?" asked her mother, perplexed.

"Yeah," replied Amy. She was about to take the letter out when she was interrupted again, this time by the doorbell.

"Could you get it please?" her mother asked Amy over the counter, "Only I've got the coffee going and-"

"Yeah, okay," Amy said before her mother could continue.

_She drinks to much coffee_, Amy thought as she walked towards the door. Her mother had about four or five cups a day. It was her way of coping with stress. _Why **she's** stressed right now, I'll never know._

She stepped up to the door and opened it, immediately receiving a surprise. Standing outside was man she didn't know, dressed in plum purple robes and a matching pointed hat.

"Hello!" he said pleasantly as Amy just stared.

Amy recovered slightly. "Um, hi. Uh… can I help you with anything?"

"Yes," said the man, suddenly business-like, "I'm Jeremy Denler, representative from the Ministry of Magic, I'm here to see Amy."

Amy's jaw dropped in spite of herself. It didn't look as though Jeremy minded though, more as if he was used to this sort of behavior.

"I'm sorry, Ministry of _what_?" Amy asked after a few moments of silence.

"The Ministry of Magic," he repeated calmly. "Now could you please let me speak to Amy?"

"I'm Amy," she replied, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Well, then, I presume you've gotten a letter from Hogwarts by now?"

"Yeah," said Amy, astonished.

"I'm here to help you and your family understand some of the concepts of the wizarding world and to tell you how you are going to attain wizarding supplies and get to school," he went on.

"But," stuttered Amy, hardly able to believe it, "That letter was a joke!"

"Oh no, I assure you it's quite real. Now, if you let me in I will explain everything."

"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked suspiciously.

"I assure you I mean no harm. You are perfectly safe. I just need to talk to you and your mother."

Somehow, hearing that he wanted to talk to her _and_ her mother calmed her down. "I suppose so," she said, and let him inside.

"Er, would you like some tea or something?" she asked after closing the door behind him.

"Oh, yes that would be very nice, thank you."

"Okay," she said, stepping into the kitchen and motioning to Jeremy to follow. "Uh, Mum…we kinda have a… er, visitor."

"Visitor?" asked her mother, looking up from her newspaper.

"Hello, I'm Jeremy Denler, representative from the Ministry of Magic. I'm here to help you and your family understand some of the concepts of the wizarding world and to tell you how you are going to attain wizarding supplies for your daughter and get her to school," he said, reciting almost exactly the same speech he had given Amy.

"_What_?" asked her mother, who had forgotten (for once) all about her coffee.

"That's what _I_ said," replied Amy.

"Er, why don't you sit down and – and tell us what this is all about," her mother continued, clearly disoriented.

"Yes," sighed Jeremy, sitting down opposite her. Amy remained standing. "Well, has Amy told you anything about a peculiar letter she received recently?"

"Yes," replied her mother, "I think she mentioned something about it before you got here."

Amy took the envelope out of her pocket. "It says I have a place at a wizarding school called Hogwarts."

"Yes exactly, Amy is a witch," said Jeremy. "Oh, not a bad one, like you might have heard about in fairy tales, that's just nonsense," he added quickly, seeing the looks on their faces.

"I'm a _what_?" cried Amy.

"A witch, Amy. You have magical powers. You are going to Hogwarts to learn magic."

"You can't be serious!" she replied.

"I'm dead serious," he said with such sincerity that they were forced to believe it was true. Amy slumped into a chair. Her mother looked positively faint.

After a long, awkward silence Amy said, "But I've never heard of real witches, I always thought that they were fairy tales."

"The ones in fairy tales are what muggles have made up over the years. But wizards and witches have been around quite as long as muggles have. Oh, and a muggle is someone who has no magic in their blood."

"Like me?" Amy's mother asked.

"Yes, like you," he replied. She looked thoroughly relieved.

"How come no one knows about them then?" asked Amy, panicking slightly.

"We take care of that at the Ministry."

"You mean this _Ministry of Magic_?"

"Correct. If any muggles find out about us, we modify their memories. Oh, don't worry, it doesn't hurt them, they just don't remember anything there're not supposed to remember."

Amy tried to absorb all of this information. It was very hard. Could she really be a witch? But then again…when she thought about it, it did make sense…just like it had the night before.

For the next few hours, Jeremy explained things to them, answering their many questions along the way. He told them about Diagon Alley, about Gringotts and how to convert their money, how to get through the barrier at King's Cross Station, what Amy's classes were, and how things worked in the wizarding world, like how it was run by the Ministry of Magic, and how wizards and witches transported themselves and communicated with each other.

"So," he finished, ages later, "An owl will be coming by in the next few days to confirm your answer to the invitation to Hogwarts, as you don't have one yourselves. I will leave some Floo powder here with you. Your fireplace is now attached to the network, so if you need help, or have any more questions, just throw a pinch into the flames, step in and shout "Ministry of Magic". Then just go up to the counter and ask for me."

Amy nodded. She was partly in shock. Things were going by as if they were part of a wonderful dream.

"Do you have any more questions?" Jeremy asked them.

Amy thought for a minute. Sure she had questions, and loads of them. Who were her teachers? What did Hogwarts look like? Exactly what would she learn in her classes? But somehow she knew she wanted to figure that out for herself. She was in for the adventure of a lifetime, and she didn't want the surprises spoiled.

"I have a question," she said suddenly, looking up at Jeremy, "How do I know this isn't a dream?"

Jeremy smiled. "Because when you wake up tomorrow, the Floo powder and the letter will still be here."

After a quick cup of tea and another short talk with Amy's mother, who was still looking as though she was going to faint any minute, Jeremy took out a long, thin piece of wood, which Amy supposed must be his wand, and disappeared into thin air.

Before this, Amy had not known if really believed Jeremy. But now, after seeing real magic, she was convinced. As she put Jeremy's cup in the dishwasher, she was so happy she felt as if a large balloon was swelling inside her, and for the first time in days, she felt a real smile on her face.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Well, hope you liked it! I know it might be a bit boring but Amy doesn't know anything about the wizarding world, so bear with me. Oh, and that line, "she was so happy she felt as if a large balloon was swelling inside her" is copied almost exactly from the first book, page 49, UK Hardcover Edition. I did it to show that Amy was feeling much the same as Harry did when he discovered being a wizard wasn't a dream. Don't worry, we'll see the trio soon enough, we just have to introduce Amy to Hogwarts and the wizarding world. Another thing, PLEASE REVIEW! I really need some reviews to help me keep going so go on, it only takes a minute! Review, review, review, review, or I'll just keep on bugging you! Hey that rhymes! Cool! Now it can get stuck in your head! (Sorry)


	3. A Plan

A/N: Hi! So sorry I haven't been writing lately, a while ago I was like "Oh my gosh, I haven't written in ages!" But I haven't had any time until now. Hopefully things will get a little more interesting now!

Note: I am fully aware that HBP has come out now (yay!), but my story will actually be set in Harry's fifth year. So this story will have the same basic plot with added characters (Amy being the main one). I know that technically this isn't exactly possible, but hey, this is fan fiction!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

_One Last Hope_

_Chapter 3: A Plan_

When Amy woke up the first thing she did was stuff her hand underneath her pillow to see if her Hogwarts letter was still there. It was. With a broad smile on her face she dressed and headed down to breakfast. She was halfway down the stairs when she thought of something that made the smile slide off her face. Tara. By going to Hogwarts she would not move on to secondary school with Tara. Sure Tara had other friends, but she and Amy were _best friends_. Amy's whole adventure at Hogwarts wouldn't be as fun without Tara. She would not even be aloud to tell Tara about it! But she could not just forget about Hogwarts and go back to acting like a Muggle. She felt she _had_ to go to Hogwarts; she _wanted_ to go to Hogwarts. And although she knew that they would remain best friends, she felt sad that she could not share this part of her life with Tara. But she would never let that get in the way of their friendship. _Never_.

Feeling slightly glummer she descended the stairs. In the kitchen she found that her mother had just finished explaining the fact that Amy was a witch to Tomas, who looked simply gleeful.

"Wow Amy!" he said upon seeing her. "You're a witch! Awesome! Hey mum, does that mean I'm a wizard? Does it, does it?"

"I'm not sure dear." Her mother looked tired. "Listen, Tomas, would you mind leaving Amy and I alone for a while to talk about her school?"

Tomas shrugged. "Sure. Hey, can I go see if Chris can play?"

"Of course dear," replied his mother. "Just remember, you can't tell him"

"I know, I know."

When Tomas was gone, Amy said, "Um, so mum, when are we going to get my stuff for school?"

"Yes, Amy, um, about that. Well, this whole boarding school thing, and the fact that you're the only person with magical abilities in the family, well, um, I just don't like the thought of you being so far away all year, especially when no one here really understands what it's going to be like, doing magic and all…"

"Mum," said Amy, feeling worried. What if her mother stopped her from going to Hogwarts? "I'll be okay. I can take care of myself. It's just like any other boarding school, and the teachers know all about magic, so I'll be fine! And who knows? Maybe Tomas will turn out to be a wizard!"

"But Amy, you'd have a whole different life! You'd be all on your own because I'll be no help and you won't even be able to tell anyone! What will you tell your friends?"

"That I'm going to a boarding school! I'll be home for Christmas and during the summer every year, it's not like I'm never coming back!"

"I don't care! I don't think it's a very good idea for you to just change your whole life on a whim!"

"It's not on a whim, it's my entire future! Jeremy said there are loads of witches and wizards who are muggle-born, just like me, and they don't have a problem! I really want to go! Besides, now that I know I won't be able to go back to pretending I'm a muggle just like that!"

"Well, that's to bad, young lady! I know what's best for you! You're not going and that's final!"

"Since when has it been your decision? This is _my_ life!"

"Amy Marie, this discussion is over!"

Furious, Amy turned on her heel and stomped off to her bedroom. Her mother had used her middle name, which meant that she was angry, _very_ angry. But as Amy pounded up the stairs, she knew that she had to go anyway. How could she not? It made her feel uneasy­she had never lied beforebut she would have to now to get to Hogwarts. She would finally be where she belonged, with people who could use magic, just like her. This was an adventure she would not pass up. She marched into the study and yanked the phone from its holder, then dialled.

"Hello?" asked a voice on the other end of the line.

"Hi Tara, it's me, Amy."

"Oh hi! Hey, I was going to go out to get some school supplies on Friday, do you want to come?"

"Oh, that sounds really great, sure. But before that I have to get all sorts of special junk because mum's sending me to some stupid boarding school."

"You're going to a boarding school? Oh, that really sucks. Now we can't go to school together!"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just wish there was a way we could spend more time together during the year."

"That's okay. Just make sure that when you come back on holidays that we get together at every opportune moment, okay? No exceptions."

"Of course! Oh darn, sorry, I have to get off the phone. I'll catch you later, okay?

"Yep! See you later!"

"Bye!" Amy hung up the phone and stood for a minute thinking. It would be practically impossible to get to Hogwarts without her mum knowing, but Tara had given her an idea…

"Hey Mom," she said, a couple minutes later in the kitchen, "I was just talking to Tara. Since you won't let me go to Hogwarts, I'll be going to school with her and I was wondering if I could get some school supplies with her and her Mom on Friday." She did her best to look and sound extremely putout.

"Why of course, dear. That's the day after tomorrow isn't it?" replied her mother, looking relived that Amy wasn't rebelling.

"Yep."

"Okay. Oh, and Amy, I'm sorry, but I'll be working late again tomorrow as well."

Amy nodded and left. Her Mom working late would make it even easier for her to do what she was planning next.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

But then, of course, something happened that could have ruined the whole thing. Amy was going to bed early that night, but she had just stepped into her room when a sharp tap brought her attention to the window. It was Jeremy's owl. The one that was waiting for a response that would confirm that she was going to Hogwarts. Amy froze. She had not expected it for a couple of days. She leapt forward to open the window and undo the screen. The owl soared into the room and made to fly out the door, but she sprinted past it and slammed the door. She listened for the sound of movement downstairs and her blood froze. Her Mom was coming up the stairs. Amy picked up the owl from the floor where it had landed and hurriedly placed it on her closet shelf. She closed the closet door just as her mother knocked.

Amy opened the door a crack.

"Amy, are you alright? I heard some banging sounds coming from here."

"What? Oh, that. Something fell Mom, but it's okay, I've got it."

"Are you sure you don't need help?"

"Yeah, it's okay."

"What's that noise?"

Amy froze. The owl had just hooted.

"Um, what noise?" asked Amy, pretending she hadn't heard. "I didn't hear a noise."

"Oh, well I guess I imagined it then." She sighed. "Well, goodnight dear."

"Night," replied Amy before closing the door. She let the owl out and then quickly wrote a note saying that she was coming to Hogwarts, then tied it to the owl's leg and let it out the window. She sighed with relief and flopped onto her bed after closing the window. That had been close. She would have to be more careful.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Amy's watch alarm woke her up early the next morning. She stopped it quickly, so that no one would hear. That had been why she had used the alarm on her watch instead of the one on her radio. She lay still, pretending to be asleep until she heard her mother's car rolling out of the driveway. Then she jumped up, got dressed, rummaged around for her allowance savings, grabbed her train pass and her house key, stuffed everything into her purse and walked out the front door. She had to do this all very quietly, as not to wake up her brother, who would be staying at Chris's house for the day when he woke up. It was a long walk to the nearest station, but she knew the way, (she had been on the London Underground many times before) and it was the only way to get to Diagon Alley without her mother knowing. She could not use Floo Powder because her mother had thrown it all away.

When she got to the train station, Amy picked up a map, and then got onto the train that would take her as close to Diagon Alley as possible.

Walking down the street in London, Amy started feeling nervous. She had been too full of determination to worry on the train, but now, looking at the unfamiliar buildings, she wondered if she was doing the right thing. _Of course I am_, she told herself, _this is the_ _only way to get to Hogwarts. Mum will forgive me…eventually_. She was just wondering what The Leaky Cauldron was going to look like when she saw a shabby pub that passers by didn't seem to notice. A sign above it read, _The Leaky Cauldron_. Amy took a deep breath, and then stepped inside. A couple witches and wizards sat at various tables around the dimly lit pub. Amy walked up to the counter and to talk to the man behind it.

"Excuse me, are you the Landlord, Tom?"

"Why I most certainly am, miss," said the man. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes please. Could you open the entrance to Diagon Alley for me?"

"Of course, right this way, miss."

She followed Tom out into a small, walled courtyard. He took out his wand, and then tapped a brick that was three up and two across from a dustbin. The brick wriggled, and then a small hole appeared, getting bigger and bigger until it formed an arch that led to a winding cobbled street full of shops. Amy followed Tom through the arch and it sealed behind them.

"Do you have a wand miss?" asked Tom, turning to her.

"Um, no, but I'm buying one today."

Tom nodded. "To get back through, tap this brick here with your wand." He showed her, then walked back through the arch, said, "Good day miss," and disappeared with a bow as the arch turned back into a wall.

Amy took a deep breath and looked around, a smile spreading across her face as she looked at the various items on display. There was a cauldron shop, a place to buy owls…Amy walked down the street, her head turning frequently to look at all the different things through the shop windows.

_Right, _she told herself, _I need to go to the bank to exchange my allowance for wizard money._ With that, she walked down the street until she arrived at the front steps to a magnificent marble building. She wondered what a wizard bank might look like as a goblin bowed her inside each set of doors.

She let out a small gasp of wonder upon seeing the vast marble hall before scurrying to the nearest goblin behind the counter that was available. Feeling only slightly afraid, she told him her name, and asked if she could exchange some money.

"Of course you can, miss, although you might not have to. Are you a descendant of Marie Tannor?"

"Well, um, yes. She was my grandmother."

"Well, in that case, she left all the savings in her vault to you."

"_What?" _

As if in a daze, Amy listened while the goblin explained that her grandmother had indeed been a witch, then put her figure on a magical piece of paper as some sort of identification, which the goblin must have understood, because next thing she knew she was signing a contract to except a vault she had not even known existed. The goblin had shown her proof that her grandmother had indeed left the vault to her, and after all the papers had been signed, he got another goblin to show her to her new vault.

Amy was awoken from her daze only when she stepped into a passage with a set of railroad tracks on it. The goblin whistled, and a cart magically pulled up.

"After you, miss."

"Uh…okay."

Amy was soon feeling better as the cart whizzed down tunnels, sometimes turning or branching off in a different direction, leading them further and further underground. She loved roller coasters, and to her, this was exactly like one. She was slightly disappointed when it finally stopped.

"Vault four-hundred and fourteen," announced the goblin as he led her from the cart to a big iron door. He turned the key in the lock and the door opened to reveal several small mountains of coins.

"Wow," was all Amy could say as she stood there, back in her daze.

"You'd best hurry, miss," said the goblin, "This time of the year is always busy."

Shaking herself slightly, Amy put a few handfuls of coins into her drawstring bag and then followed the goblin back to the cart. After he closed the vault, the goblin gave her the key, telling her to keep it somewhere safe.

After another wild cart ride and a thank you to the goblin, Amy stood outside in the cobbled street contemplating what to buy first and wondering how her own grandmother could have been a witch without her realising it.

A look at her watch told her she had to get a move on. She could worry about her grandmother later; she had to get home without her mother knowing that she had gone. She decided to go get her uniform first, which took the better part of an hour because Madam Malkin had taken a while to fit her robes to her petite frame.

_Oh, of course I'll get taller mother, just like you said, _Amy thought sarcastically._ Gosh, I hate being short._

When she came out of the shop with her new uniform, she was starting to get hungry. She decided not to stop for lunch but she did have a large ice cream from a small shop with a name she couldn't pronounce. Florean Fortesqueeu, or something. Next she thought she'd better get her spell books, so she ran up to a large shop called Flourish and Blotts.

Inside was a rather muddled assistant who nevertheless got her all the spell books she would need. After paying him, she ran around Diagon Alley for the next few hours trying to buy all of her other school supplies. She stopped at a place that sold cauldrons (she needed one in pewter, standard size 2); another shop that sold a various number of things where she bought a telescope and a set of brass scales; the Apothecary, where she got a set of crystal phials and a small kit of potions ingredients; and a small place that sold ink, parchment and quills.

When she looked back down at her list she was startled to find only three items left: a broomstick, which she was not allowed to have (Amy had been quite disappointed when she found out first years could not own one), a pet (she wanted to get an owl), and a wand. Deciding to leave the wand for last, Amy bought herself a small tawny owl and a pack of owl treats before heading down to Mr. Olivander's shop.

Mr. Olivander creeped her out a bit. After being measured in every way possible, she tried out what must have been a hundred wands. But Mr. Olivander didn't seem to mind very much. He just kept cheerfully showing her wands. Finally, she held one that made her hand feel warm, and when she waved it, golden sparks shot out its end.

"Oh, yes! Wonderful! Come along now; let me see…" said Mr.Olivander.

After paying for her wand, and thanking and waving goodbye to Mr.Olivander ("Oh, you're very welcome, dear! Good luck at Hogwarts!"), Amy gathered her things and headed back down the street.

She had just enough time to stop in a shop selling trunks and bags. She bought a folder for her notes, a book bag so she could carry her books easier once at Hogwarts, and a big trunk, which was charmed so that you could fit a great deal more things in it than could ever have been possible if it weren't magical.

With all the stuff she was carrying, she didn't think she could ever make it home with all the extra bags, so she stopped outside the store and packed everything she had bought into her trunk.

It was on the way home that she started to wonder about her grandmother again. She _had_ been a very strange old woman. She had always been going on about something or other, telling people of adventures she had had as a young woman. This had always made Amy laugh. Her mother used to say that she didn't think Grandma was always right in the head, but somehow she managed to get along fine on her own. She had died of a heart attack when Amy was seven while she and her mother were over for tea, and the last thing either of them could remember her saying was, "Well, get me to St. Mongo's, you fools!" Amy's mother said that Grandma had finally cracked and had been talking nonsense again. Not until now did Amy think it was even possible for such a place to actually exist.

She got off at her station and walked home. Before entering her house, she peered over the hedge into the yard and through the window, just to make sure no one was there. Then she rushed in and locked the door, heaved her trunk to her room, and stuffed it in the closet. Stretching out a hand, she removed the white cloth that had been hiding her owl (which, thank goodness, was very quiet) in its cage and placed them both on top of her trunk.

When her mother got home, she pretended to have hung out all day waiting for Tomas to come back. She could not believe her mother actually bought it. _Good job_, she told herself.

"Oh, hey Amy! I got some more ice cream! Would you like some? I don't feel like cooking dinner and it's been a while since you had a treat."

Amy knew her mom was just trying to make up for not letting her go to Hogwarts, but all she said was, "Sure, mom. Thanks."

_I hate lying to her_, thought Amy miserably. _Oh well, I did the right thing. It'll all work out eventually._

_So, why do I feel so guilty_?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Amy called Tara the next morning saying that she could come along shopping for school supplies, since she would need some anyway for boarding school. She actually didn't need them, of course, but she had to let her mother see her with some so she wouldn't grow suspicious. She bought all the school supplies she would need if she were going to a Muggle school with the money her mother gave her.

She and Tara worked out a system to keep in touch. The first Saturday of the school year, Amy would send Tara a letter. When Tara received it, she would read it and send one to Amy, who would in turn do the same. It wasn't a complicated plan, but it would work.

When Amy got home, she went up to her room, took all of her new school supplies, unopened, and put them into her new backpack, on which she hid the tags. This way, if her mother accepted she was going to Hogwarts, she could return them when Amy came home. Until then, Amy would have to hide them.

When there was only a week left in August, Amy phoned Tara again.

"Hey, Tara?"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if we could get together sometime before school starts?"

"Yeah, probably…when are you free?"

"Um, I guess only the last couple days."

"Hmm…I know! Your term starts September first right? Well, mine doesn't start until the fifth, so you could come sleep over the night before your term starts. That way I can see you off!"

_Yes! I knew she wouldn't let me down!_

"That sounds great! Oh, but I have to get there by train from King's Cross Station so…"

"That's okay, my parents can probably drive you…hang on."

Amy twisted the phone cord anxiously with her fingers while she waited for Tara to come back on. What if this didn't work?

"Yep! It's okay with them. We can drive you in the morning. What time does your train leave?"

Amy breathed a sigh of relief. "Eleven."

"Great! It'll be no problem."

"Okay, but one more thing. Can I bring my suitcase over the day before? It's kind of heavy and mom doesn't want me to carry it at night."

"Okay. So I'll see you at six on the thirty-first?"

"Yep. Thank you so much! I can't wait!"

"Bye!"

Amy hung up and ran downstairs to the kitchen.

"Hey mom, can I sleep over at Tara's Saturday night? We want to get together before school starts."

"Okay honey, what time?"

"Six. And I'll probably be back around noon the next day."

"Make sure your things are ready before then."

_Yes!_ Amy ran back upstairs to her room. Her mother had to work during the day on Friday, and Hogwarts started on Sunday, so she knew she could get her trunk to Tara's without her mom knowing. Everything was working out great. Well, except for the part where she had to disobey her mom. That kind of sucked.

_It's all going to be okay,_ she thought happily. _Now, all I have to do is wait._

This proved harder than Amy thought. She was always irritated, and she was very uncomfortable around her mother. Finally, August thirtieth arrived.

While her mother was at work, Amy pulled out her trunk and packed her things very quietly so that Tomas wouldn't hear her. Then, when he had run into the backyard to play with Chris, she carried it down the stairs and out the door. She dragged it all the way to Tara's house, and left it with her, saying that she couldn't stay right now because she had to watch her brother, which was actually true. Feeling guilty about leaving him by himself, she ran the whole way home.

She didn't have to worry though; he hadn't even noticed she was missing. When her mother got home they had dinner, but Amy found it very hard to eat with her insides squirming. She was relieved when she could finally say goodnight.

Up in her room, she laid down on the bed and did a mental check that she had done everything. When she was satisfied, she crawled under her covers and tried to sleep. This was easier said than done. Even though she knew that everything was ready and in place, she could not stop feeling nervous. Only one day left until she would go to Hogwarts. She was actually going to do this.

_Oh…my…God…_

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Wow, that was really long. Funny how everything just works out for Amy isn't it? Maybe it's magic. It was actually going to be longer, but I decided to separate it into two chapters. Hopefully it was a bit more interesting, but I know the scenes in Diagon Alley were dull. Like I say, I just need to start this off. Soon it'll be more of Amy's life at Hogwarts, instead all this stuff that everyone already knows. Again, I'm sorry for not updating, but hey, I got this chapter up during exams! Oh, well, it's not like anyone actually reads and reviews (which is way you should! Otherwise I'll get discouraged.)


	4. Doing the Impossible

A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed. You guys are awesome! I was really glad to see that people like my story (even if it's just a few)! I'm really excited, as the number of reviews for this fic is now two digits (I know, kinda pathetic, but oh well)! Someone asked me where the story is taking place. Well, for now it's Amy's house. She lives close to London. As for later, you'll have to wait and see. Again, I'm sorry for the gap between chapters 2 and 3…hopefully that won't happen anymore. If it does, I'll get my friend to whack me on the head.

Oh! Disclaimer: I forgot to put one in the last chapter, so this is for chapters 3 and 4. I do not own anything in the Harry Potter universe. Nothing at all. I repeat, nothing at all. I do, however, own Amy, her mother and Tomas, and Tara and her parents, plus anyone else I forgot to mention who is not in Harry Potter.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 4: Doing the Impossible

Amy didn't get any sleep that night. She kept tossing and turning, wondering what was going to happen and worrying about everything. Finally, at five in the morning, she stopped trying to sleep. Instead, she dragged herself out of bed and walked downstairs, where she ate cereal and watched Saturday morning cartoons.

Eventually, her mother got up, and then Tomas, who had obviously stayed up all night and therefore slept all morning. They spent the day hanging out and relaxing, except for Amy, who felt uptight all the time. She was quite relieved when four o'clock came, and she could go upstairs and pretend to be packing for her sleepover. The actual packing took about ten minutes. She stuffed all the things she would need into a small bag, which she placed at the front door. Then, pretending to still be in her room, she rushed out to her tree house in the back yard before anyone could see her.

Her tree house was in the biggest tree in the yard. To get to it, Amy had to climb a rope latter. It had been here when they first moved into this house. Tomas never used it; he always played in the one over at Chris's house. It was a fairly big tree house, and Amy loved to spend lazy summer afternoons in it reading books or drawing sketches.

One of the things Amy had found out that no one else knew was that there was a loose floorboard in one corner of the tree house. The floor had actually been built about a foot and a half above the bottom, so this little niche was perfect for anything that she wanted to hide. Best of all was that wind and water could not reach this gap, so everything she placed in it was protected.

She hurriedly stuffed her new school bag with all of her unopened school supplies in it under the loose floorboard. This was a place that she was sure her mother would not find it. Of, course, her mother would figure out what she had done eventually, when she didn't come home, but Amy had to make sure that she was on the train, speeding towards Hogwarts by then.

She had just enough time to sneak back up to her room before she was called down for supper. It was yet another meal where Amy's squirming went unnoticed. It was after Tomas had left the table and she was still finishing her beans that Amy thought she would blow the whole thing, because her mother had just _had_ to bring up the topic of Hogwarts again.

_Darn._

"Honey, you've been kind of quiet for the last few days. Are you sure you're okay with not going to Hogwarts? I'm sorry, but I really don't think it's a good idea and I don't want you to go. Can you understand that?"

_No, not really_, Amy thought. However, what she said was, "Sure. I was kind of mad for a while, but now I'm okay. It does sort of make sense." It was all Amy could do to stop her hand trembling, but somehow, she managed to pull it off.

Her mother sighed. "Oh, I'm so glad. You know I hate it when we fight. But you'll have fun at school with Tara, I promise." A short silence followed these words, in which Amy wished Tara could come along to Hogwarts too. "Well," her mother said at last. "You'd better head off to Tara's if you want to be there for six."

"Okay mom."

Her mother followed her to the door and gave her a hug goodbye. It was then that it occurred to Amy how much she would miss her mom while she was away. But there wasn't really anything she could do about that. She waved goodbye and walked out the door, into the dim light of dusk outside.

"Make sure you get there before dark!" her mother called.

"I will!" Amy called back.

Ten minutes later she was ringing the bell at Tara's house. Tara let her in, and they spent a fun evening eating ice cream and watching movies. For the first time since Diagon Alley, Amy found she was enjoying herself. She always had fun with Tara. The two of them never failed in having an awesome time and inventing a whole bunch of inside jokes.

At ten o'clock they headed up to bed. Or rather, they got ready for bed, had a pillow fight, and stayed up talking. Amy didn't mind that she would be tired for her first day of school; she would never have been able to sleep anyway.

"It's gonna suck so much when you leave," Tara said. "Who will I have pillow fights with?"

Amy hit her over the head with her pillow.

"Ow! Well, it's true. I'm really gonna miss hanging out with you every day."

"I'm going to miss you too. And I'm really sorry that I won't be here for you. It's just that"

"Don't worry about it. Just make sure you write all the time."

Amy got up and hugged her friend. "Of course I will. And I'll come visit you as often as possible."

And as Tara smiled back at her, Amy wondered when would be the next time she saw that smile.

Of course, later that night, as she was lying in her sleeping bag, she began to doubt herself. What if her mother found out what she was up to and kept her from getting on the train? _What could I have been thinking?_ She thought. _There's no way I'm going to be able to keep this up. I'm trying to do the impossible. _ She sighed. _Oh well, I can't stop now. And besides, if there's any way I can get to Hogwarts, even if it's just the slightest chance…_

_I have to try. I just have to._

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The nest morning dawned bright and clear. Amy woke up at six, not able to pretend she was sleeping anymore. She wondered vaguely if she had slept at all last night. Oh, well. What mattered now was that she had to get ready.

Half an hour later she came down to breakfast with Tara, where Tara's mother treated them to pancakes. Another hour later and she was ready to go, with her trunk at the door and everything. Amy couldn't exactly remember what had happened then. She suspected she had watched Tara play video games. At eight thirty they piled into the car and headed of to King's Cross so that Amy would get there half an hour before the train left. She and Tara played car games the whole way there. Amy made sure that there was never a silence, because whenever there was, she found that she began to wonder if her mom knew where she was. It was a good thing that her mom and Tara's parents didn't need to talk to each other about their children's plans, because they trusted them so much.

_Well, they sure won't after this_, Amy thought.

Finally, the car pulled into the parking lot at King's Cross station, and everyone inside it climbed out. They walked over to a space near the platforms, and Tara's parents helped Amy put her luggage onto a trolley.

"Got your ticket? Know which platform you're on?" asked Tara's mother.

"Yep. Thanks Anne." Amy was over at Tara's so often that she was on first name terms with Tara's parents.

"So, you're all set?" asked Tara's dad.

"Yeah, Dave. Thanks for everything, you guys."

"Oh, you're quite welcome, dear," replied Anne, fussing over Amy's luggage. "Are you sure you can't fit this into your trunk?" she asked, indicating to the bag which concealed Amy's owl in her cage.

"Oh, no, it's okay, I've got it," she said quickly.

"Would you like us to see you to your train?" asked Dave.

"Oh no, you've done so much already. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

Amy nodded.

"Well, in that case, have a great term!" said Anne, hugging Amy tightly.

"Yes. And good luck at your new school!" said Dave, hugging her as well.

"Thank you so much!" replied Amy, smiling. Then she turned to her friend.

She hugged Tara tightly, and Tara hugged her back. Amy wondered, probably for the hundredth time, when she would get the chance to see her again.

"I'll miss you so much," she said, breaking away.

"Same to you," said Tara. She was smiling, but Amy saw a hint of tears in her clear blue eyes as the wind whipped her dark hair around her face.

"Bye," they said in union. Then her parents led Tara back to the car, and they waved a final goodbye to Amy before getting in. Tara looked at Amy one more time, and then got in as well. Amy waved as she watched them pull out of the parking lot and drive away. Now she felt really alone. She was going to a new place, where she didn't know anyone, without the support of her family, and without being able to tell her best friend.

_Right, well, here goes nothing._

Amy turned around and wheeled her trolley up to the barrier between platforms nine and ten. She checked her watch. Twenty minutes to eleven.

_I just hope mom doesn't find out I'm gone until then._

She looked at the barrier. It looked pretty solid. _Okay, let's go. I just hope this doesn't hurt_, she thought. Pushing her trolley in front of her, she began to walk quickly towards the barrier. She went faster and faster, until she broke into a run. The barrier got closer and closer until…there was no barrier anymore. Instead she found herself on a crowded platform next to a scarlet steam engine. Looking back, she saw an archway instead of the barrier, which bore a sign reading, "Platform 9 ¾".

_Wow, cool! I wonder if mom, being a muggle, would be able to come through the barrier and catch me?_ Deciding it was a possibility, she promptly pushed into the crowd, which was so thick that anyone would have a hard time finding anyone else.

Soon, though, all thoughts of her mother were wiped from her mind as she looked around at the other students. Some of them were already wearing their uniforms. Others were tending to their pets, or else showing each other neat things they had gotten over the summer. Some of these were things such as a new set of what Amy believed to be Gobstones (from what she had seen in Diagon Alley), while others were as impressive as a new broomstick.

Shaking herself, she went off to find a compartment. She found an empty one at the end of the train, and heaved her trunk into it. It was a very difficult task, as the trunk was so heavy, but somehow, Amy managed it (she suspected some of her magical powers might have kicked in and helped). Once her trunk was secure in the overhead compartment, Amy went to the door and slid it open. Looking up and down the hall, she saw students everywhere greeting each other and finding spaces for their trunks. She leaned back into the compartment just in time as a very tall girl went running past. Closing the door again, she sat down on the seat and looked out the window.

Outside, students were all boarding the train and saying goodbye to their parents. Amy wished more than ever that her mother had been there to say goodbye, instead of forbidding her to come at all. But her stomach also twisted into a knot of worry. _She could still come_, she thought, horrified. _She could still come and stop me from going._ For five minutes (although it seemed like hours to Amy), all she could do was worry, hoping desperately that her mother still had no clue what she was doing.

Suddenly, the train whistle sounded, making Amy jump. Then, slowly, the train started to move. Heart still pounding, Amy looked out the window. The platform was sliding steadily away. The train began to pick up speed, and soon it rounded a corner and the platform was gone.

_I did it_, thought Amy. _I actually did it. I'm going to Hogwarts!_

And although she was still nervous about going to a new place, although she was worried about what her mom would say when she found out, although she felt incredibly guilty for going against her mother, Amy smiled.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Yay! That was a really quick update! Consider it as a way of making up for the lateness of chapter 3. So, finally, Amy is going to Hogwarts. I think the story will be more fun to write now, and hopefully more fun to read! So please, tell me what you thought by reviewing! It would really make my day!


	5. Journey to Hogwarts

A/N: Okay, here we go, chapter 5. I've decided to update this fic once every few weeks. This works very well: it will keep me from going insane (wait - I'm not already?) and it is not so terribly long a time that my friends will be forced to whack me upside the head. I am desperately hoping that this chapter will not be boring. To me, the other chapters seemed more like a lead-up, so maybe now it will get interesting. I hope.

Disclaimer: Everything Harry Potter is owned by the brilliant JKR. If I owned it, I would be writing HP 7, not fan fiction, and I would be hurrying up about it. ::cough:: hint hint JK::cough::

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 5: Journey to Hogwarts

Amy had thought that after a while, the smile would slide right off her face and she would go back to being worried. Not so, apparently. Perhaps it was just that she had felt worried and guilty so much over the past week that she had simply lost the ability. Or maybe she was just too excited about Hogwarts to let those feelings take over.

Either way, the thought of her being over-excited all by herself seemed pathetic even to her, so she went out into the corridor. She had only just stepped outside her compartment, however, when she ran into someone. Or, rather, they ran into her.

Sprawled out on the ground, she looked out at the figure lying next to her.

"Ow. Oh, sorry, are you okay?" asked the girl beside her, wincing slightly as she propped herself up on her elbows. She had long, light brown hair, a slim face and eyes that were no colour in particular; they were a sort of blue-grey with bits of green and even a slight trace of brown.

"Oh, that's okay," said Amy, sitting up. She glanced around her. A trunk sat just ahead in the corridor. "Is that yours?" she asked the girl, indicating to it.

"Oh, uh, yes," said the girl, sitting up as well. "I was just on my way to find a seat. I guess I just wasn't looking and then you stepped out into the hall…"

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I guess I wasn't looking either. Hey, do you need help with your stuff?" Amy got up and held out a hand to help the girl up.

"Sure," she said, taking Amy's hand and letting Amy pulled her to her feet. The girl was very short. Amy had thought that _she_ was short, but her lack of height was nothing compared to this girl's, who was more than half a head shorter than her. "Thanks a lot. I'm Erin," she added.

"I'm Amy," said Amy, smiling. "Are you a first year?"

"Yep. You too, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

Amy laughed. There was something very friendly about this girl. Perhaps it was just how she smiled.

"Hey," said Amy. "If you haven't found a seat yet, you can sit with me. There's no one else in my compartment."

"Sure," replied Erin. "That'd be great!"

Together they hauled Erin's things into Amy's compartment. When everything was secure, they sat down opposite each other.

"So," asked Erin. "Are you from a family of wizards?"

"Not really," said Amy. "My grandmother was a witch, but besides her, I'm the only one in the family with magical powers. Well, that we know of, anyway. We're not sure if by younger brother is a wizard or not."

Erin nodded. "Both of my older brothers are wizards," she said, "And so is my mom. My dad's a Muggle though, so I'm pretty sure he thinks we're all crazy." She laughed.

"He doesn't mind that he's the only one who can't do magic?" asked Amy.

"Not really. He just plays around and makes fun of us. He says he doesn't need magic because he has all sorts of Muggle gadgets."

Amy laughed, deciding that she quite liked Erin. As the train sped further and further away from London, the girls started talking about…well, pretty much everything. The talked about Quidditch (mostly Erin explained to Amy how it was played) and Hogwarts, about what their classes would be like, speculating how big the castle was ("…well, my brother, Eric, says it's _huge_…"), and just about everything else magical that they could think of.

Around noon, someone opened their compartment door.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" asked a plump lady who was pushing a food – well, candy, really – trolley.

Amy and Erin grinned at each other, grabbed their money bags and walked towards the door. Five minutes later, they were sitting with the candy spread out between them on the seat, eating everything from Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans to Chocolate Frogs to Pumpkin Pasties and so on.

Neither of them had noticed how hungry they had been earlier, but now they were struck with sudden hunger, so they made their way slowly through the sweets. Erin had to explain a lot about each kind of candy to Amy, who had of course never seen any of them before.

They had just started chatting merrily about different books they had read (Erin had read several Muggle books because of her dad), when there was a loud crash and someone came hurling into their compartment.

A tall, thin boy with short, dark brown hair and navy blue eyes stood stalk still beside the door, obviously hiding. Amy and Erin looked at each other; Erin raised an eyebrow.

"Um, excuse me-" she started, but the boy cut her off.

"Shhh!" he whispered urgently, putting a finger to his lips.

They were all dead silent for a few moments, and then-

"_Where are you, you little twerp?! When I find you, I'll hex you into next week!_" They heard someone yell angrily while they were running at top speed down the corridor.

The girls saw the boy hold his breath. When the pounding footsteps died away, he let out a relieved sigh, and then turned to them.

"Uh, hi. Sorry about that. I had to hide from my brother. He's after me again."

"That was your _brother_?" asked Erin incredulously.

"Yeah," replied the boy. "My _twin_ brother actually."

"Why was he trying to hex you?" asked Amy curiously.

"He was teasing someone and I stood up for them," he explained. "So he got really angry with me and stared chasing me. It happens a lot, actually."

"You stand up against your brother?" said Erin.

"Yeah. I just can't stand it when he bullies people. It's a good thing I'm fast; we're only starting our first year, but he already knows a whole bunch of hexes. He practices them at home, even though he's not supposed to. He's really good at them, too. I've tried a couple, just to defend myself, but they haven't worked. It makes sense, really; he's better than me at pretty much everything."

"So, when you stand up to him, he runs you down?" asked Amy sympathetically.

"Yep. So I have to hide, because if he catches me, I'm sure to be a goner."

After a moment of silence Erin asked, "Do you have anywhere to sit?"

"Well," answered the boy. "I _was_ in a compartment with Matt, that's my brother, and his friends, but I guess I can't go back there."

"Well then," said Erin, motioning to the seat opposite her. "You can sit with us; we're first years too."

The boy suddenly looked shy. "Really?" he asked. "I wouldn't trouble you?"

"Really," replied Amy. "It's no trouble at all."

For the first time, the boy smiled. "Thanks," he said, and sat down.

"I'm Erin," said Erin, "An this is Amy."

Amy smiled at the boy as she was introduced.

"I'm Nathan," he replied. "But, uh, you can call me Nick, if you like."

"Nick? How does that come from Nathan?" asked Amy curiously.

"It doesn't, really," he replied. "I just don't like being called "Nate" so…"

Erin smiled. "So, Nick, what's with your pain-in-the-neck brother? How come your parents don't stop him?"

Nick shrugged. "I don't think they really care that much. They just kind of let him do magic when he wants, even if he shouldn't be allowed."

"Are your parents wizards?" asked Amy.

Nick nodded. "Oh, yeah. I'm not really sure if they know that the Muggle world even exists."

They all laughed. Then Erin tossed something to Nick. "Here Nick, have a Chocolate Frog."

"Thanks," he said, and then bit off the frog's head.

They spent the next few hours chatting merrily as the train sped farther and farther north and their pile of sweets grew steadily smaller.

"So," said Amy. "The Houses at Hogwarts. Jeremy, the Ministry official who told me I was a witch"

"They actually sent someone to your house?" interrupted Nick.

"Well – er, yeah. How else was I supposed to find out?" asked Amy.

"Well…I guess that does make sense…the Ministry must really have their hands full during the summer," said Nick.

"I guess so," replied Amy. "I never really thought about it."

"Anyway," Erin cut in. "You were talking about Hogwarts houses?"

"Uh, yeah," said Amy. "Jeremy mentioned them, but I don't really know much about them."

"Well, students at Hogwarts are sorted into houses," explained Erin.

"How?" asked Amy.

"I don't know, my brothers wouldn't tell me. Anyway, you live in your house dormitory and go to classes with others in your year from your house and everything. There are four houses. Gryffindor is where you're sorted if you're brave. Um, if you're smart and clever and all that, you get put in Ravenclaw, and if you're just, loyal, honest and stuff, you'll be sorted into Hufflepuff. Oh, yeah, and then there's Slytherin, if you're uh, cunning and talented, I think it is."

"And pure-blood," added Nick.

"Oh, yes, that's right," said Erin.

"Pure-blood?" inquired Amy, who didn't feel that she would really belong in any of the Houses at that moment.

"If you're pure-blood it means that you're from a family of all wizards," explained Nick. "Most of my family is made up of wizards, so I'm almost pure-blood. I think my great grandmother or someone was a Muggle."

Erin nodded. "I'm half-blood, because my mother's a witch but my father's a Muggle."

"Oh," said Amy. Already she was feeling as a bit out of place, thinking of all the things she didn't know about the wizarding world. "Then – er – what am I?"

"Well, I guess you're almost Muggleborn, seeing as your parents were muggles, but your grandmother was a witch so…" Erin trailed off thoughtfully.

"Why does it matter what sort of blood you've got?" asked Amy, feeling uneasy.

"It doesn't," said Nick. "What kind of blood you have has nothing to do with your magical abilities, or with who you are as a person. It's just that some people – usually pure-blood wizards and witches– think that they're better than other people just because they're pure-blood."

Amy was silent for a moment. "That sucks."

"Yeah, it does," replied Erin and Nick at the same time.

Just then, they heard a crash on the other side of the door. When they looked up, they saw a tall boy, who had obviously been listening to their conversation, come into their compartment. He looked almost exactly like Nick, except a little taller. And his eyes, instead of being dark blue, were a cold sort of grey.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Has my prat of a brother found himself some friends?" said the boy, who was clearly Nick's twin. "Look at you, hanging out with a pair of girls. It's too bad there are no guys who would ever want to be _your_ friend."

"I don't care," said Nick calmly. "There're great people. It sure beats hanging out with you."

"_Great people_?" sneered Matt. "It's just like you to stand up for Muggle lovers" he gestured at Erin, "And Mudbloods like her," he finished, glaring at Amy.

Amy felt her face go red but glared right back at the boy. She had been teased plenty at her old school; it wasn't like she didn't know how to deal with bullies.

"Don't call her that!" said Nick angrily, standing up.

"Oooh, coming to the rescue of someone else now, huh? You don't want to do that. Remember that new hex I learned?"

Both Amy and Erin stood up at the same time.

"Hey!" said Amy, at the same time Erin said, "Don't you threaten him!"

Matt looked at them maliciously. "Or what?" he asked, sneering at them.

"Or maybe we'll get back at you," stated Erin calmly, glaring at him.

"Ha!" laughed Matt. "I'd like to see you" But he was cut short as Erin's fist came into contact with his stomach and he doubled over, winded. Finally, when he had managed to stand relatively strait, he glared at Erin. "I'll get you for that," he growled.

"Yeah, sure, okay." Erin shrugged, unconcerned, and sat down as Matt lumbered out. She looked up to find both Amy and Nick staring at her. "What?" she asked defensively.

"How'd you do that?" asked Nick incredulously.

She shrugged. "I know some self defence and stuff," she said.

Amy just shook her head exasperatedly while Nick sighed.

"Hey," Nick said to them after a while. "Thanks for sticking up for me."

"Yeah," said Amy. "Thanks for standing up for me too."

"Hey," said Erin, smiling at them. "What are friends for?"

They played Exploding Snap (Erin and Nick had to explain how to play for Amy) until it began to get dark outside. Then they decided that they had better put on their robes, so Nick left for a while to give the girls some privacy. When a voice flowed through the corridors telling them to leave their baggage on the train, the three of them met up and made their way slowly through the corridor, amidst other eager students, and onto the platform.

Out on the platform they heard a woman shouting, "First years! First years over hear please!" They ambled their way over to her, along with the other first years. Amy heard some of the older students asking things like "Where's Hagrid?" and "Why is that Grubbly-Plank woman here? What happened to Hagrid?"

"What are they talking about? Who's Hagrid?" asked Amy.

Nick just shrugged, but Erin said, "My brothers told me that he's the gamekeeper here, and also the Care of Magical Creatures teacher. I think it's usually his job to bring the first years to the castle."

"I wonder why he's not here?" said Amy. This time it was Erin who shrugged.

"Right," said the woman calling out for the first years. "Is this all of you? Okay then. I am Professor Grubbly-Plank, and I'll be taking you to the castle. Let's go!"

She led them away from the platform and down a steep, narrow path through the trees. Nobody spoke much as they walked.

"Hey Erin?" whispered Amy. "Do your brothers still go to Hogwarts?"

"One of them does," she whispered back. "Eric's in his seventh year. He's in Ravenclaw. Jonathan graduated two years ago. He was in Hufflepuff."

Amy nodded. "Did they tell you anything about how the first years reach the castle?"

Erin shook her head.

After a while they came up to what seemed to be a clearing.

"There it is!" announced Professor Grubbly-Plank. "That's Hogwarts!"

Amy gasped along with everyone else as she looked up at the castle, which stood on a cliff across a lake. She had known the castle would be big, but this was _huge_. She felt a sudden burst of excitement as she looked up at the thousands of welcoming lights of the castle twinkling at her from across the lake.

"All right, everyone," Professor Grubbly-Plank was saying, "Four people in each boat! Come on, now!"

Amy, Erin and Nick clambered into one of the boats resting on the shore and were followed by a timid looking boy with blond hair. Once everyone was in a boat, Professor Grubbly-Plank yelled, "Forward!" and the boats stared gliding silently across the water all by themselves.

Amy folded her arms across her chest. It was getting very cold. She looked out over the water and nearly fell in when she saw what looked like a long tentacle break the surface and twirl around in the air.

"Did – did you see that?" she asked Erin.

"What?" She squinted where Amy was pointing and gasped. "Oh…I think that's probably the Giant Squid. My brothers told me about it."

"The G – the Giant - "

But her words were cut of as they reached the cliff. The students bent their heads down as they passed through a curtain of ivy and down a dark tunnel, which lead to a sort of underground harbour. They climbed out of the boats onto the pebbles on the ground, and then followed Professor Grubbly-Plank through a passageway that came out on the grass just outside the castle.

"Everyone here?" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank. "Alright then, follow me."

They walked behind her across the lawn, and up the steps to the castle. Then Professor Grubbly-Plank knocked on the oak front doors.

A tall witch wearing a long green robe and square spectacles with dark hair pulled into a tight bun opened them.

"Here are the first years, Professor McGonagall."

"Thank you," said the witch. "Follow me please," she said to the students. They walked into the biggest entrance hall Amy had ever seen, with a huge marble staircase at the other end. She was confident that several of her houses could have fit comfortably in it. Looking up, she could not make out the ceiling.

Professor McGonagall led them into a small, unused classroom just outside the hall. When they had all gathered around her, she began to speak.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start of term feast will begin momentarily, but before you can take your seats in the Great Hall, you must be sorted into houses." She went on the talk about how they would live in their house tower and take classes with their house. Then she explained about the four houses, house points, the house cup, and other such things. "I will bring you into the hall to be sorted into your houses in front of the rest of the school when we are ready for you." And with that, she left them and closed the door.

_In front of the whole school?_ Amy thought. _I just got here! I can't do this; I don't_ _know anything about magic! _

Amy looked around her to find that almost everyone looked as scared and nervous as she felt. After at least ten minutes (but it seemed much shorter to Amy), Professor McGonagall came back and led them across the Entrance Hall and through the double doors into the Great Hall.

There was a collective gasp from the first years. Amy didn't think she'd ever been in such a cheerful place. There were four long tables, one for each house, stretched out in front of them, and the staff was sitting at a table facing them at the other end of the Hall. Candles hung in midair everywhere, giving it a warm glow. Amy glanced up at the ceiling and gasped; the starry sky stretched out above her.

"My brother, Jon, told me the ceiling's bewitched to look like the shy outside," she heard Erin whisper to her.

Amy stared around the Hall in wonder until her eyes fell upon a man with long white hair and beard, wearing half-moon spectacles and sitting in a chair at the centre of the staff table. _So this is Dumbledore_, she thought, smiling. Just then, Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes caught hers, and he winked, the corners of his mouth twitching. Amy gaped, startled, and then winked back just as the line of first years stopped moving. Dumbledore smiled.

Amy watched with the rest of the school as Professor McGonagall carried a stool to the front of the Hall and then placed it in front of the staff table, setting a dirty old hat on top of it. Everyone stared at it for a few seconds, then a rip near the brim opened, and the hat began to sing.

The hat sang about the four founders of Hogwarts and how they had built the school, about the forming of houses and how in the end they fought one another, and about how Slytherin left the school. Then it said that although it would sort them, it was worried that it was wrong. It warned them about being divided, and told them that they had to come together to protect Hogwarts from "external deadly foes".

"…And we must unite inside her

Or we'll crumble from within

I have told you, I have warned you…

Let the Sorting now begin."

The whole Hall burst into applause…but from what Amy could tell from the muttering she heard from older students, the Hat didn't usually give warnings.

Professor McGonagall glared around the Hall until the whispering stopped, then took out a scroll of parchment, looked at it and called out, "Abercrombie, Euan."

The timid looking boy from Amy's boat stepped forward, sat on the stool and put the Hat on his head. The Hat was silent for a moment, and then it called out, "_Gryffindor_!"

Amy clapped along with the others. She was slightly relieved. All she had to do, it turned out, was put this hat on her head. _That doesn't seem so bad…_she thought, slightly less nervous.

Amy watched the other students getting sorted, waiting to hear her name. She looked around the Great Hall, trying not to pay attention to the butterflies in her stomach, when Professor McGonagall called a name that made her jump.

"Evans, Amy."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Yay, my first cliffhanger! Although probably not a very good one since a lot of you had probably already figured it out because of her red hair and green eyes and the fact that I never mentioned her last name (heehee). Anyway, I'm sorry if it seems a bit cliché…I swear I don't mean for it to be! Don't worry; I have it all worked out, you'll see.

I hope it wasn't too boring…I know the explanations of the Houses and all the pure-blood stuff was kinda dull, 'cause everyone already knows it. The important thing to remember is that Amy doesn't! Hopefully the next chapter won't be as long…I know this one was a bit lengthy.

Oh, by the way, I named the twin brothers Mathew and Nathan because Mathew means "God's gift" and Nathan means "Gift of God". I just thought that was kinda cool.

Please, please, please read and review to tell me what you think. I love hearing from you! Flames are bad. Constructive criticism is good. Compliments are…even better! ;)


	6. The Not So Welcoming Feast

A/N: Hi everyone! I hope you liked my last chapter; it took me forever to write. Thank you to all the wonderful readers who reviewed. You guys are the best! This chapter explains a lot of stuff, and again, some of it may be boring, but after this chapter, Amy will be well informed on the wizarding world, so there won't be too much more. Yay! Now I get to continue the cliffhanger from last chapter!

Note: As I've said before, this fic is set in Harry's fifth year, with the same basic plot line, but also with a few changes (such as the existence of Amy).

Disclaimer: No Harry Potter stuff is mine. So "ha!" to all those who thought they were cool enough to sue me.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to JK Rowling, because without her, this story wouldn't exist!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 6: The Not-So-Welcoming Feast

Over at the Gryffindor Table, a fifth year boy with messy black hair, green eyes and round glasses seemed to choke on absolutely nothing. His friends who were sitting beside him, a tall boy with red hair and freckles and a girl with bushy brown hair, looked at him in concern, their eyes wide.

The rest of the Hall was looking at him too. Everything was silent for a few seconds, then, slowly, small whispers could be heard, as people's heads looked from the astonished Harry Potter to the terrified, red headed first year, who was standing absolutely still.

Ignoring all those around him, Harry moved his head to get a good look at this girl. She had the same long, red hair as his mother, and her eyes, though wide open in terror, were the same as his.

The first year, however, seemed confused, and did not move.

"Evans, Amy," repeated Professor McGonagall uncertainly.

In line with the rest of the first years, Erin gave Amy a nudge in the ribs.

"That's you," she said quietly, her tone slightly disbelieving.

"But – no," said Amy, starting to panic. Why was everyone looking at her? "My –my last name isn't "Evans", it's "Philips"!"

"No one else is moving, it must be you," Erin whispered franticly. "Now _go_!" she finished, shoving her forward.

Amy looked uncertainly at Professor McGonagall, who nodded jerkily and beckoned her forward. Amy, her chest tight, a lump in her throat, walked towards the Professor. She didn't think she'd ever been more terrified.

Reaching the stool, she sat down, and quickly jammed the hat on her head, to avoid all of the eyes staring at her. It went down past her eyes and all the way to her ears. Staring at the darkness in front of her, she clenched her hands around the edge of the stool, forcing herself to remain calm.

"_So," _said a voice in her ear, making her jump. _"You're an "Evans", now, are you?"_

_"N – no,"_ thought Amy. _"I – I don't know what you mean. My last name is "Philips", I-"_

_"Oh, yes,"_ said the hat. _"That _is _what you believe – and with good reason. But it's all here, in your head. You are, indeed, an "Evans"."_

_"Wh – what do you-?"_

_"Anyway, to business,"_ said the hat, talking over her thoughts. _ "Where shall I sort you? You have bravery, I can see, and much talent. Yet you are clever, oh yes, and very loyal. Where to put you?"_

Amy was entirely bewildered. She didn't feel she was anything the hat had just said she was, and she had no idea why everyone thought her last name was Evans.

_"Hmm,"_ it continued. _"Yes…this is a very difficult decision…why don't you make it?"_

_"Wh – what?"_ thought Amy. _"No, I couldn't possibly – I'm sure they're all good houses-"_

_"Oh, but are you?"_ asked the hat. _"What about Slytherin and its pure-blood status?"_

_"Well – I – er-"_

_"Hmmm…yes. I think you've already made you're decision._

_"What? I-"_

But the hat didn't let her finish. Amy had a brief flashback to when she had stood up for Nick on the train, and the next thing she knew the hat had shouted, _"GRYFFINDOR!"_

There was an outburst of clapping from the Gryffindor table, broken with muttering from the whole Hall. Amy shakily made her way to the table, uncomfortably aware that almost every eye in the Hall was on her. She slumped down into a seat, and fixed her eyes on the Sorting Hat, hands clasped tightly in her lap, refusing to look at anyone.

She hardly breathed as she waited for it to be Nick or Erin's turn. While she waited, Nick's twin, Matt, was sorted into Slytherin. Finally, Professor McGonagall shouted, "Milton, Nathan," and Amy watched nervously, hoping he would be placed in Gryffindor, both so that she could have a friend with her, and so that someone could explain things to her.

After what seemed like ages, the hat shouted, _"GRYFFINDOR!"_

Almost giddy with relief, Amy clapped with everyone else as Nick came over to the Gryffindor table, and she motioned for him to sit next to her. He did, though he looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Why didn't you tell us your last name was "Evans"?" he demanded as a tall, blond girl made her way to the stool.

"But it's not!" insisted Amy. "My last name is "Philips"! I don't know what's going on! What's the big deal about "Evans" anyway?"

"Okay, look," said Nick. "Just stay clam, okay? We'll get everything sorted out later."

"But-"

"The name "Evans" is a really big deal because it was Harry Potter's mother's maiden name."

"What? Who's Harry Potter?" Amy whispered franticly.

But just then, "Waters, Erin," was called and the two friends sat nervously to watch her being sorted. It didn't take very long for the hat to shout, _"GRYFFINDOR!"_ Amy let out a sigh of relief, glad that Erin would be joining them in their house. She and Nick clapped with everyone else as Erin took off the Hat and walked to the Gryffindor table.

Erin made her way over to them, sat down on Amy's other side and said, sounding very much like Nick, "Why didn't you tell us your last name was "Evans"?"

Amy opened her mouth, but Nick beat her to it, and told Erin what Amy had just explained to him.

"So you didn't know that was your last name?" she asked.

"No, because it's not!" said Amy, exasperated.

She was finding the whole conversation rather nerve-racking, not only because of her situation, but because they had to whisper, as the Sorting Ceremony was still taking place.

Just then, however, the last person ("Zeller, Rose") was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Dumbledore stood up, smiling at his students.

"To our newcomers," he said, arms stretched wide, "Welcome! To our old hands, welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

There was applause and even some laughing as Dumbledore sat down, and then a gasp was heard from every first year as they looked down to see the table laden with food.

Amy had only just realised how hungry she was. She, Erin and Nick filled their plates up with every food within reach. After she had eaten a little bit, Amy turned to Nick.

"So," she said. "About Harry Potter. Who is he again?"

"You don't who Harry Potter is?" asked Erin in disbelief.

"Hey, give me a break, I've only known that I'm a witch for a month!"

"Oh, right," said Erin. "Sorry. Anyway, Harry Potter is just about the most famous wizard there is."

"Why?" asked Amy.

"Because when he was only a baby, about one year old, I think," explained Nick, "He survived an attack by You-Know-Who."

"Okay," said Amy, confused. "Except, I don't-know-who."

"Well," said Erin, very quietly. "He's a dark wizard by the name of Lord V- Voldemort." Both she and Nick shuttered. "Everyone's too scared to say his name, so we call him "You-Know-Who" or "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named"."

Amy blinked. This "You-Know-Who" business seemed complicated.

"He was evil," continued Nick. "He went around killing people, wizards and Muggles alike. He had followers called Death Eaters. Back when he was in power, well, you couldn't trust anyone. Everything was dark. It got really bad.

"Anyway, when Harry was one year old, You-Know-Who came to his house. He found out where his parents had been hiding. He killed Harry's parents, and then went to kill him.

"But he couldn't," said Erin. "Somehow, Harry survived and the curse rebounded on You-Know-Who. No one knows what happened to him. He just disappeared."

"Harry went to live with his Muggle relatives," said Nick. "No one knows how he survived, but no one else had ever survived when You-Know-Who wanted to kill them. No one had ever survived the killing curse before."

"The killing curse?" asked Amy.

"Avada Kedavra," Erin explained. "One of the Unforgivable Curses. The other two are the Imperious Curse, which is used to control people, and the Cruciatus Curse, which cases the victim extreme pain. The use of any of them will land you in Azkaban – that's the wizard prison – for life. They were used a lot by You-Know-Who and his followers."

Amy swallowed. She had never known that the wizarding world had such a dark history.

"Harry Potter was You-Know-Who's downfall," said Nick. "You-Know-Who went away, and his Death Eaters returned to our side, or were put in Azkaban. After that, things went back to normal. The fear disappeared. That's why Harry Potter's famous."

"And his mother's maiden name was "Evans"?" asked Amy disbelievingly.

Erin nodded. "Lily Evans. James Potter was his father."

"Wow," said Amy. "Where is he now? How old is he?"

"About fifteen," answered Erin. "He goes to Hogwarts too. He's in Gryffindor."

Amy's eyes widened. Just then, she had the peculiar feeling that someone was watching her. Someone who was not just stealing glances at her, like every other student in the Hall. She turned around to see a boy with black hair and glasses looking at her from down the table. She met his eyes and gasped; they were the same as her's. The boy quickly looked away.

"That's him," said Nick, looking over her shoulder.

"His eyes are the same as mine," Amy said faintly.

"So maybe you are related to him," stated Erin.

"So, why was everyone staring at me? How did they know _I_ was Amy?"

"Lily Evans was known for her red hair and green eyes," said Erin.

Amy gasped and ran a hand nervously through her hair. "So – so everyone thinks I'm related to Harry?"

"Maybe you _are_," said Nick fairly.

This was all too much for Amy, so she tried to change the subject. "Has – has anyone seen You – You-Know-Who since that night when Harry's parents were killed?" she asked.

"Some people claim to have," said Nick. "Apparently, Harry met him in both his first and second year, and he defeated him again. _Both times_."

"And then," whispered Erin, "He competed in the Triwizard Tournament last year, even though he was too young."

"Triwizard Tournament?" asked Amy.

After Nick had hurriedly explained what that was to Amy, and the circumstances of that particular one, Erin continued, "But something went wrong in the last task. He came out of the maze by portkey, with Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff contestant, who was dead. Harry says he saw You-Know-Who come back and that it was him who killed Cedric."

Amy gasped. "So V – You-Know-Who is back?"

"We don't know," explained Nick "Harry says he is, and that there are several faithful Death Eaters that haven't been sent to Azkaban and are still going around doing stuff for You-Know-Who."

"But the Ministry – the Ministry of Magic – doesn't believe him," said Erin, taking over. "They say that he's lying, and the _Daily Prophet_ – that's our newspaper – is now writing that he's delusional and that he's lying to get attention."

"So, is Harry telling the truth?" asked Amy.

"My family thinks so, and so do I," stated Erin proudly. "We think that Cornelius Fudge – he's our Minister for Magic – is leaning on the _Prophet_, and making them write all sorts of nasty things about Harry. We're being extra careful, in case You-Know-Who decides to come out of hiding."

"My parents and my brother believe the Ministry," said Nick, "But I think Harry's right. I don't think he would lie about that kind of thing after what he's been through."

Erin nodded. "So now," she said, "Most people think he's delusional, and won't listen to him."

"Wow," said Amy after a while. She could not think of anything else to say. Then she thought of something. "So, wait – there's a Ministry of Magic?"

Erin and Nick then explained all about the Ministry. Amy was grateful for all their explanations; she was finding everything hard to understand as it was.

When they were done, they all sat in silence for a while, eating the puddings and desserts that had recently appeared. Amy felt bad for this Harry Potter boy. She didn't think she could ever do what he had had to do. And now with his claim that Voldemort – er – You-Know-Who – was back, Amy was worried. Had she entered a world that had more dangers than she could deal with?

Erin noticed the worried look on her face and said, "Don't worry, we're safe at Hogwarts; the castle is protected by all sorts of enchantments, and besides, Dumbledore was the only wizard You-Know-Who ever feared."

Amy smiled. That did make her feel slightly better.

When the food had disappeared, Dumbledore got to his feet to give the start-of-term speech. He reminded them that the Forbidden Forest was out of bounds, and that magic, along with a various number of items (all posted on the list on Filch, the caretaker's, door) were not permitted in the corridors. Then he informed them of two changes in the staff that year: Professor Grubbly-Plank, the teacher who had brought them across the lake, would be teaching Care of Magical Creatures (Amy wondered where this Hagrid person was) and Professor Umbridge, who would be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts.

He had just begun to talk about Quidditch tryouts when he was interrupted by Professor Umbridge, who had stood. Amy got the impression from older students that no one had ever done this before. Dumbledore sat down, and Professor Umbridge cleared her throat with a sound like "_hem hem_".

Professor Umbridge thanked the Headmaster, greeted the students as though they were very young children, and then went into what seemed to be a very well rehearsed speech about progress, balance, and change within Hogwarts.

Amy frowned as she listened. There was something that wasn't right about what Professor Umbridge was saying. She got the impression that there was some important underlying message, and that you had to "listen between the lines", if such a thing was possible, to get it. Other students started to let their minds wander; they talked among themselves, or else stared into space. But Amy kept listening, trying to understand what was really being said.

After she was done, Professor Umbridge sat down. Dumbledore clapped, as did the other members of the staff, but only a few students started clapping before Dumbledore stood up. Amy did not join them.

As Dumbledore continued to talk about Quidditch tryouts, Amy turned to her friends. "Didn't that speech seem weird to you?" she asked them.

"Yeah, a little bit," said Erin vaguely.

"Huh?" said Nick. "I wasn't really listening. It was very dull."

Amy turned to look around the table. She still wanted to know what the speech had meant.

"I'll tell you what it means," she heard someone say. She looked around. The speaker was a girl with bushy brown hair, sitting next to Harry and talking to him and another boy with red hair and freckles. "It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts."

Amy went cold. This could not be good, given the current circumstances. There was definitely something wrong.

Suddenly, there was a great deal of movement and noise all around her.

"Come on, Amy," said Erin. "Dumbledore dismissed us."

The three of them got to their feet and looked around. Where were they supposed to go?

"First years!" they heard someone call. They turned to see the girl with bushy brown hair motioning towards them. She had a Prefect badge glimmering on her chest. "This way, please!"

Amy, Erin and Nick walked towards her with the other Gryffindor first years. The girl was standing next to the tall boy with red hair, who was also wearing a Prefect badge. When all of the first years had gathered around them, the Prefects led them to Gryffindor Tower.

The other first years were Euan Abercrombie, William Parkes, Lawrence Morris, Cary Winslow, and René Anders. They all trailed after the Prefects, who had introduced themselves as Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, for what felt to Amy as a long time. She was full and sleepy and just wanted to lie down.

Finally, they came to a halt at the portrait of a very fat lady in a pink silk dress. "_Mimbulus mimbletonia_," said Hermione. Obviously this was a password, because the Fat Lady nodded and swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall behind it. They scrambled through it and immerged on the other side in a circular, scarlet room with windows and a fireplace at the far side. It was filled with squashy armchairs and couches. Amy had instant déjà-vu. This was the room she had dreamt about over a month ago! She had almost forgotten about that dream.

"This is the Gryffindor Common Room," said Hermione. "The girl's dormitories are up the stairs on the right, and the boy's dormitories are up the stairs on the left. You'll get your timetables tomorrow at breakfast in the Great Hall. You can come to us if you have any questions. Goodnight!"

With that, Hermione followed Ron to a couch by the fire, and started telling him off for calling the first years "midgets".

Amy and Erin said goodnight to Nick and then climbed the spiral staircase on the right until they came to a door marked "First years", with Cary and René right behind them. Inside was a circular room with four four-poster beds draped with scarlet-red velvet curtains. A window was placed at the far side of the room. Their luggage had already been brought up.

Amy took the bed closest to the window on the right, and Erin took the one beside her's. Cary and René took the beds on the left side: Cary across from Amy, and René across from Erin.

Amy let her owl out the window. She hooted happily at her, and then soared into the night. Amy had named her Tawny, because she was a tawny owl. Amy knew it might be tacky, but she liked it.

Amy unpacked a bit, but then drew the curtains around her bed, changed into her pyjamas, and crawled underneath the covers.

"'Night Erin," she called through the curtains.

"'Night," came Erin's muffled reply.

Tired though she was, Amy had expected to take ages to get to sleep, as she was so exited to finally be at Hogwarts. To her surprise, however, she fell asleep almost instantly.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Another long chapter. Oh, well. I know you were probably kinda bored because of the whole "Harry Potter is famous and Voldemort is evil" thing, but I thought it was important to establish how Amy and her friends feel about the situation, and also to have Amy understand everything. Hopefully I won't have to do too much of that anymore, except maybe to describe classes. ::sigh::

Notes: -Dumbledore's opening speech before they eat was copied almost exactly from the book (UK edition, page 188). I didn't know how else to do that.

-I wrote about Amy's dream about the Gryffindor Common Room in the first chapter.

Anyway, Amy is now at Hogwarts! Yay! It took 6 whole chapters to do it, but she's finally there. Now the plot can move forward::gasps::

Please review to tell me what you think. It means a lot to me, and I really appreciate it!


	7. More Surprises

A/N: Right. Sorry this update took a little longer than usual, but life's been busy. And now, sadly, we must discuss the ever-present bore-factor ::groan:: (yes, I have actually given it a name). Things you may find boring in this chapter due to the fact that you've read it in the Harry Potter books a million times: what classes are like, maybe some descriptions, stuff about Harry. After this chapter, I am going to start a mission to destroy the bore-factor for hopefully the rest of this fic!

I think I've had too much sugar.

Disclaimer: Have you ever heard of someone named Little Lily Granger who wrote the Harry Potter books? Of course you haven't, because I _didn't_. Jo did. Also, I did not write the Lord of Rings books, or the elven language used in them, which are briefly mentioned in this chapter. As motioned later on, it was J.R.R. Tolkien who wrote those.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has ever reviewed! Thank you so much!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 7: More Surprises

It took Amy a few moments to remember where she was the next day. Seriously, she just woke up and thought, _where in the world am I?_ Then she remembered. She was at Hogwarts! The events of yesterday all came flooding back to her and her face lit in a bigger smile than she'd worn in a month.

Then she remembered something else. Her mother. She was probably going crazy right now, what with Amy being gone. Amy flinched. She suddenly felt extremely sorry for Tomas.

Not that Amy had been completely inconsiderate. She'd left a note in the mini fridge where her mom kept her diet soda. She'd known it was safe to put one there because her mother only drank it after she got home from work everyday. And of course, she worked on Sunday afternoons. She needed to stop working so much. The intension had been that her mother would assume Amy was still at Tara's, go to work, come home, wonder where Amy was, and find the answer when she reached for a soda.

The note had read:

_Dear mom,_

_I'm okay, don't worry. I ran off to Hogwarts. I know you're mad, but please stay calm._

_Tara's parents drove me to the train station. Don't be mad at them. I told them I was going to a boarding school and was getting there by train, which is essentially true. But I didn't tell them about magic, and you can't either. You know that._

_I'm really sorry, and I know you won't be able to trust me for a long time, but we can deal with that later, hopefully when I come home for the holidays. I just had to go. It's like my dream come true, and I couldn't ignore it. Hopefully someday you'll understand and forgive me._

_Love, Amy_

_P.S. Tell Tomas I'm sorry._

Perhaps it had been a bit tacky and impersonal, but oh, well.

She looked at her clock on her bedside table. Five in the morning. Oh, well, there was no way she was getting to sleep now. She got up, dressed, and headed down to the common room with some parchment, ink, and a quill. She sat for a while, wondering why it was so difficult to come up with the right thing to write to her mom. Finally, she came up with this:

_Dear mom,_

_The owl that delivered this letter to you is mine. Her name's Tawny. Be nice to her. I'm safe at Hogwarts, about to start my first day of classes. _

_I really do wish you had just let me come here; I do feel awful sneaking out to buy stuff and lying to you and all. But, well, remember that performing arts school you really wanted to go to at my age, but you're parents wouldn't let you? So instead you went to normal secondary school, and you always wished you could have gone to the other one? This is kind of like that, except I did something about it about my dream._

_So be mad at me all you want, but I'm staying at Hogwarts. I'm still really sorry though. We can get everything sorted out when I come back for Christmas. I miss you a lot, and Tomas too, and I hope you'll forgive me._

_Love, Amy_

_P.S. Please excuse the tacky-ness. This was really hard to write, you know._

When she finished the letter, she sat by the window and looked out across the grounds. She figured it was better to wait until breakfast had started before she went to the Owlery. Out the window she could see the Forbidden Forest, trees swaying in the wind. Some owls were still coming back from their nighttime hunt.

Amy looked up when she heard footsteps. She turned to see Erin coming down the stairs.

"Wow, you're up early. Too excited to sleep?" Erin asked.

Amy laughed. "I guess I am. I thought I'd spend the time until dawn writing this letter."

"Who's the letter for?" asked a voice to their left. Nick was walking towards them form the other side of the common room.

"My mum," said Amy shortly.

"Your mum?" asked Erin. "Homesick already?" she teased.

"No, but I have to write this now to prevent my mom from freaking out. All I left was a note. I wonder how she reacted when she found out where I went?" Amy mused.

"You ran away?" asked Nick and Erin simultaneously.

"What? I didn't tell you that already? Oops."

"Why did you have to run away?" asked Nick, shaking his head.

"Because mum wouldn't let me come to Hogwarts," said Amy simply.

They stared at her.

"_What_?" she asked.

"I can't believe you ran away," said Nick incredulously.

"Sorry," said Erin.

Amy shrugged. "It'll be okay. Do want to come with me to the Owlery?"

They nodded and the three of them climbed out the portrait hole and stopped. Where on earth were they supposed to go?

"Lost, my dears?" asked a friendly looking portrait of a young lady. Amy stared. Moving portraits. They had _moving portraits_ here. In a flash she remembered the rest of her dream from a month ago, where she had been in a castle with strange portraits. This was so _cool_.

The kind portrait of the young lady gladly showed them the way to the Owlery. Amy, Erin, and Nick were suddenly amazed at the size of the castle. They hadn't paid very much attention to it last night after the feast, when they had been so tired. When they arrived, they thanked the kind lady, who smiled, and walked through the portraits down the hall until she was out of sight.

"Hey, guys," said Amy, after they had entered the Owlery and she was tying the letter around Tawny's leg, "I think I dreamt about this place."

Erin and Nick looked confused.

"Huh?" asked Erin.

"You know," continued Amy lightly, "Hogwarts. About a month ago, I had a dream about a place just like this, and I didn't even know I was a witch yet."

"Cool," said Nick.

Erin seemed very excited. "Hey! Maybe you're one of those Seers. You know, wizards and witches who can predict the future."

Amy wrinkled her nose. "I don't think so. I've never been very good at guessing. And besides, this dream was more…I don't know…vague."

Erin shrugged. "We'll just have to wait and see I guess, won't we?" she said with a smile.

Amy noticed, at breakfast, that people around the hall kept whispering, shooting looks at her and then at Harry, who sat further down the table with Ron and Hermione. Amy just ignored the whispering, and Erin and Nick, taking her lead, did the same.

They took their timetables from Professor McGonagall, went to Gryffindor tower to pick up their books, and headed to Transfiguration, their first class.

Transfiguration was easily the most frustrating subject, as it proved extremely difficult to change one thing into another. As a result, Cary was the only one in the class who managed to almost transfigure her match into a needle. The most Amy's had done was go all pointy. Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, Head of Gryffindor House and Deputy Headmistress of the school, was very strict and immediately made it clear to the first years that she was not someone to cross.

Amy found Charms a lot of fun, especially when tiny Professor Flitwick would tumble off his stack of books. Amy discovered she was actually pretty good in this subject; after a few days, she was one of the best in the class.

Although Herbology was generally enjoyable, Amy often found herself getting minor scratches and bruises from the magical plants they had to deal with. She and Nick would tend to get a bit irritated when Erin often escaped with no such scrapes. At least Professor Sprout was nice; she had earthy fingernails and flyaway hair, but was good natured and kind. They also had this class with the Hufflepuffs, all of which were very nice.

History of Magic, on the other hand, was much less interesting and exciting. Amy had to struggle with herself not to fall asleep, and took as many notes as she could. This was a very difficult task, as Professor Binns, aside from being a ghost, was the most boring professor they had to deal with. He would simply read from his notes the entire class, droning on and on in his wheezy voice.

On Wednesday at midnight, Amy dragged herself up with Erin, Nick, and the rest of the Gryffindor first years to look at the night sky thought telescopes, mapping star charts for Astronomy. Amy was glad that it wasn't too difficult; her concentration was rather limited in the middle of the night.

Potions _would_ have been all right. In fact, Amy was sure it would have been a fun and fascinating subject…if it weren't for the slimy haired, hooked nosed teacher who taught it. He favoured his own House, Slytherin (Nick complained that McGonagall didn't favour them), and pretty much hated all Gryffindors. Unfortunately, these two Houses took the class together. This was another subject that Erin was reasonably good at, even with Professor Snape glaring at her. Amy disliked the fact that she seemed to be the subject of most of his glares. Also, while every teacher had stopped for second as they had read her name ("Evans") from the class list, Snape had taken the liberty of a lengthier pause.

"And it seems like I have another…ah, _celebrity_ student in one of my classes," he had said. She could only assume that the other student was Harry. Although she hardly counted having the whole school talk about her as being a celebrity.

As the days went by, Amy's dislike for Snape grew and grew…along with every other Gryffindor's.

But the class that she found the most odd by far was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Umbridge, their teacher, seemed to only use Ministry approved methods of teaching, and, surprisingly enough, would not let them do any magic at all. No practical learning whatsoever. Remembering what Hermione had said about the Ministry interfering at Hogwarts, Amy tried to get a better idea of what was going on, and raised her hand.

"Yes, miss Evans?" asked Umbridge in her sickeningly sweet girly voice.

"It's Philips," Amy corrected her coolly. "I have a question."

"And what is it?"

"If we don't practice defensive spells, then how are we supposed to protect ourselves against attacks?"

"Nothing is going to attack you. I assure you, you are quite safe here."

"But what about other places? Aren't there dangerous magical creatures in the world that could harm you?" She thought it was best not to mention the possible threat of You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters. "How will we defend ourselves against them?"

"You needn't worry about dangerous magical creatures," said Umbridge, the sweetness in her voice slowly ebbing away. "The Ministry has them under control."

"If you say so," muttered Erin under her breathe.

Unfortunately, Umbridge heard.

"For your information," she said, face getting red, "Trained Ministry officials in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures are quite capable of handling them."

"With what?" asked Amy, seemingly innocently. "Do _they_ use defensive spells?"

Umbridge looked as though she would through a fit. Instead, she turned away from Amy and faced the rest of the students.

"How will we pass our Defence Against the Dark Arts exam at the end of the year if we don't practice the spells?" asked René. "And what about when we're older? What about O.W.Ls?"

"If you study the theory properly, you should be able to do the spells correctly on exams," replied Professor Umbridge angrily.

Several whispers broke out at this. Amy raised her eyebrows as the teacher looked at her, knowing it would annoy her.

So this was it: the Ministry was trying to prevent Hogwarts students from learning defensive spells. Amy made a mental note to find out why.

All in all, when the week came to an end, Amy was exhausted. It was a good thing that the first years had Friday afternoons off, as it gave them all a chance to do their homework, which, Erin had complained, was a lot.

Saturday morning found Amy, Erin and Nick sitting in the common room. Erin and Nick were playing wizarding chess (Erin had won every game so far), and Amy was writing to Tara.

"Ha!" exclaimed Erin triumphantly. "I win again!"

Nick's only reply was a groan. He walked over to Amy, with Erin following.

"What are you writing with?" Nick asked Amy curiously.

"With a pencil and paper," replied Erin, rolling her eyes. "Muggles use them for writing."

Nick frowned, as if not understanding. Growing up with an all-magic family, he knew almost nothing about Muggles.

"Are you writing to your Muggle friend?" asked Erin.

"Yep," said Amy. "I promised I'd keep in touch."

"Cool," said Erin, leaning over Amy's shoulder to see what she had written. "Whoa, what language are you writing in?"

"Elven," replied Amy with a smile.

"Elven?" echoed Erin, confused.

"It's the elven language in Lord of the Rings, made up by J.R.R. Tolkien. Tara and I learned the language so that no one would understand what we were saying or writing. It took us forever, but we finally managed it."

"Awesome!" exclaimed Erin, as Nick rolled his eyes, saying, "I can't believe you had nothing better to do."

Amy just smiled and went back to writing as Erin whacked Nick upside the head.

After Amy was finished, she folded her letter and turned to her friends, who were arguing about chess strategy.

"Hey, guys, I'm starving. Do you want to go down to lunch?"

They turned towards her, saying, "Sure!" simultaneously.

Monday morning held another surprise. Amy and Erin walked down to the common room to find several students in front of the notice board. They went over to Nick, who was among the crowd.

"What's up?" asked Erin, trying to get a glance at the board. Unfortunately, she was much too short, even on her toes, to see anything.

"Flying lessons for first years are starting on Thursday," replied Nick, who was tall enough to peer through the small sea of heads.

"Flying lessons!" exclaimed Amy. She had been looking forward to learning how to fly ever since she had heard about Quidditch.

"Yeah," said Nick, "Should be cool, huh?"

Amy and Erin both nodded enthusiastically.

The next few days seemed to pass very slowly for Amy, because she was so excited about learning how to fly. Erin would often tell her how much fun it was (her mother had taught her how to fly in her backyard, which was surrounded by trees, so that no Muggles could see them), but Nick didn't seem very enthusiastic. Apparently, he had flown only a few times before, and, according to him, he wasn't very good.

Finally, Thursday afternoon arrived, and after Transfiguration, the Gryffindor first years headed down to the Hogwarts grounds for their first flying lesson.

Erin groaned when they got there. "We're taking this with the Slytherins?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah," said Nick casually. "I mentioned that, didn't I?"

"No," both Amy and Erin said darkly.

"I can't believe we now have to take two classes with that stupid brother of yours," muttered Erin to Nick.

"Tell me about it," he replied.

Following Madame Hooch's (the flying teacher and Quidditch referee) instructions, everyone walked over to a broomstick, put their right hand over it and said, "Up!"

"I wonder how long the Mudblood will be here until she decides to just pick up the broom instead?" Matt sneered at Amy.

She ignored him. "Up!" she shouted enthusiastically at her broom.

The broom, without hesitation, shot up into her hand. She was so surprised she almost dropped it. Stumbling, she regained her balance and mounted the broom as Madame Hooch had instructed. Matt looked furious.

"Well done!" said Erin, looking over at her. Then she returned her attention to her own broom. "Up!" she said. "Up!" The broom zoomed up into her hand, and she mounted it, looking as though she had done this a thousand times.

Still struggling to understand why her broom had been so eager in jumping up to her hand, Amy glanced at Nick. He was having a little bit more trouble than her and Erin, something his twin was very quick to point out. But, with what must have been the product of many hours of practice, Nick managed to ignore his brother, who's broom had come to him on his third try, and concentrate on his own broomstick.

Eventually, Nick's broomstick co-operated, and Madame Hooch continued her lesson. Amy was surprised to find that she was actually quite good at flying, and was able to do everything Madame Hooch instructed very well. After a while the teacher told them to just fly around gently for a little while, and Amy found that she wasn't just good at flying, but that she loved it. Although they only had permission to go slowly, Amy quite enjoyed cruising around, swerving one way, and then the other, going up, and them down.

"Hey!" said Erin, watching her. "You're really good!"

"You think so?" asked Amy.

"Definitely. _I _wasn't that good the first time I rode a broom. I wouldn't be surprised if you get better than me when we start _really_ flying in a few weeks."

"You're certainly better that me," grumbled Nick, coming towards them, jerking his broom this way and that.

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it," said Erin confidently.

He smiled. "I don't know. It just feels so…unnatural, flying around like this."

Amy and Erin looked at each other and shrugged. Amy didn't think there was anything unnatural about it. She had even expected to be a little scared, before she had started, but to her amazement, she didn't find it frightening at all. It was just so _fun_.

At the end of the lesson, Madame Hooch smiled at her. "Well done, miss Evans! Have you ever been on a broom before?"

"Umm, no," replied Amy, too happy to remember to correct Madame Hooch on her last name.

"Well, you've certainly got natural talent. I look forward to seeing what you can do next week."

Amy beamed as Madame Hooch smiled, her friends looked admiringly at her, and Matt grumbled in the distance.

"That was great, Amy!" exclaimed Erin, as they walked back to the castle.

"Amazing," agreed Nick. "Did you see the look on my brother's face when he saw you were better than him?"

Amy just smiled and blushed a little, at a loss for words. After all those years of having difficulty in her Muggle classes, it felt so good to find something that she was naturally good at.

As they walked through the halls that evening on their way to dinner, Harry Potter passed by. Amy glanced at him for a second before turning away. She didn't quite understand all of the things people said about him; he seemed not only to get annoyed with attention (killing the attention-seeking prat theory), but also to be utterly frustrated with everything that was happening. She couldn't blame him; she doubted she would do as well as he did under this kind of pressure. She still couldn't fully understand why nobody believed him.

They passed Harry again on their way back to Gryffindor Tower after a very satisfying dinner. Amy expected him to just steal a glance at her and move on, like he usually did, but he didn't. Instead, he walked right up to her and said politely, "Um, excuse me…Amy, isn't it?"

She was so shocked she could only stand there. When Erin nudged her in the ribs, she recovered slightly, but only enough to nod.

Harry smiled. "Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Harry Potter."

"I noticed," she said faintly.

"Right, well, who doesn't?" he said darkly. "Anyway, your last name is Evans, isn't it?"

"No!" said Amy angrily, stomping her foot. Harry looked slightly taken aback, but she didn't care. "My last name is Philips. It always has been. I don't know why everyone keeps telling me that I'm an Evans. No one has even bothered to explain any of it to me!"

"Right," said Harry, pretty calmly. "Well, that's why I'm here, actually. I was wondering if you wanted to come to Professor Dumbledore's office with me, so we can figure out what's going on."

Erin and Nick seemed to freeze behind Amy, but she nodded. "Okay. It's about time I found out what exactly everyone is whispering about."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Tada! Another finished chapter, in which, again, not all that much happens. Oh, well, I hope you enjoyed it anyway! It took me a while to figure out how to write it, and the next chapter as well. Anyway, my author's notes have been getting really long lately, so I'll just cut this one short.

Now review! Please? Reviews are ever so helpful, as they give me motivation to write this story, as well as advice on how to make it better. It doesn't take that much time, but it really helps me. So what are you waiting for? Review!

What was that that I said about long A/Ns and cutting this one short?


	8. Sherbet Lemons

A/N: Yayness! March Break! Woohoo! (Yes, I actually did have sugar today.) Now we get to figure out what's up with the whole Evans thing. Hopefully it will not be terribly cliché, but if it is (or isn't) you should tell me in a review! (hint hint)

Disclaimer: There is no way I am good enough to write the Harry Potter books. But because JK is soooo awesome, she can.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to everyone reading this fic! Even if you don't review (although you really, really should!)

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 8: Sherbet Lemons

"I'll meet you in the common room later," Amy told a speechless Erin and Nick before following The Boy Who Lived down the corridor.

If Amy hadn't been so focused on getting to Dumbledore, and getting angry again about the whole "Evans" ordeal, she might have been slightly awed at the fact that she was following one of the most famous wizards _ever_ down corridors, passed paintings, and through passageways that she hadn't yet known existed, because there was a possibility that she was related to him. But of course, with her being so annoyed, no such thoughts occurred to her.

Eventually, she and Harry stopped outside a stone gargoyle.

"Fizzing Whizzbee," said Harry.

This must have been a password because the Gargoyle jumped quickly to the side, and the wall behind it slit in two. On the other side was a spiral staircase, which moved upward like an escalator. Amy got on after Harry; the wall behind them closed itself once more with a thud and the staircase led them round and round, until they stopped before an oak door with a knocker shaped like a griffin.

Harry walked up to the door and knocked. "Come in," came Dumbledore's voice. Harry opened the door and he and Amy entered the room, Amy looking around in aw at the circular room with delicate looking silver instruments on spindly little tables, portraits of what must have been former Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts on the wall, a magnificent Phoenix on a stand behind the door, and, of course, Dumbledore himself, seated behind his desk with his hands clasped in front of him.

"Ah, Harry, of course," said Dumbledore. "You've come back to get the answer to that question?"

Harry nodded.

"And I see you've brought miss Evans this time, as I requested."

Amy looked at Harry reproachfully. "You already came here to figure this out without me? When I didn't even know _myself_?"

"Er-"

"It doesn't matter," said Dumbledore, with a wave of his hand. "What matters is that you are both here now, and that this time, I _do_ have the answer." He smiled, his clear blue eyes twinkling.

"Professor," began Amy, "Why does everyone think that my last name is Evans? My family's name is Philips, and it has been as long as-"

"_You_ can remember," Dumbledore finished her sentence for her, still smiling.

Both Amy and Harry shot Dumbledore confused glances.

Dumbledore chuckled softly. "Come here, sit," he said, motioning to two chairs in front of his desk.

Amy hesitated, then followed Harry to Dumbledore's desk and sat down beside him.

"Sherbet lemon?" asked Dumbledore, brandishing a tin of sweets in front of them. Harry declined the offer but Amy took one with a murmur of thanks and put it in her pocket.

"So," said Dumbledore. "I assume you are both here to find out if Amy's last name is indeed Evans, and if, in fact, you are related."

They nodded.

Dumbledore looked at Amy. "Do you know the significance of the name Evans?" he asked her.

She nodded again, giving Harry a sideways glance.

Dumbledore nodded. "Good. That will make this explanation somewhat shorter."

Harry and Amy waited in silence for Dumbledore to continue.

"I must admit that, at first, I did not know the answer to this puzzling question myself. I contacted a few people though, and one of them was able to tell me what I needed to know."

"And who was that, sir?" asked Amy.

"It was a friend of your grandmother's, miss Evans, as a matter of fact. I checked first to see if anyone else in your family was magical, and, upon seeing that your grandmother had been, I asked around to see who had been in contact with her. I found an old magical friend of your grandmother's, Patricia, I think her name is, who told me what she knew.

"You found Pat?" exclaimed Amy. "Pat's a witch?"

"Indeed she is," replied Dumbledore, smiling at Amy's shocked expression.

"And what did – er, Patricia tell you?" asked Harry.

"Well, first of all, that Amy's grandmother, Marie, was muggleborn, and that she had married a muggle with the last name Evans," explained Dumbledore. "Theodore Evans, as he was called, was Lily's father's younger brother. So, your last name, Amy, _is _Evans, and two _are_ related, in fact."

"So how come, if I had other living relatives when my parents died, you still made me live with the Dursleys?" asked Harry angrily. And from what Amy had heard about the Dursleys, he had reason to be angry.

But she wasn't quite thinking about that at this particular moment. "And how come I never knew my last name was Evans, sir? Why has it been Philips for my entire life?"

"Well, that is an interesting story," continued Dumbledore. "You see, after Theodore Evans died in an accident, Marie became quite distraught. One evening, when she was over at Patricia's house, she got particularly upset and had a sort of, well, vision."

"A vision?" asked Amy and Harry.

"Yes," said Dumbledore, nodding. "According to Patricia, Marie said that, in the vision, she had seen someone in her family in serious danger because of magic. Marie decided that, to protect herself and her family, she would break away from magic completely. So, she took her one-year-old son, who was your father, miss Evans, and moved closer to London. She used magic to change her, her child's, and her late husband's name to Philips, and to erase every record of her magical existence. Then she snapped her wand, and raised her son, who turned out to be a Muggle anyway, well away from magic."

"So, sir, she had a vision about someone being in danger, so she left the wizarding world, just like that?" asked Amy. "That seems a little extreme."

"Quite," agreed Dumbledore, "But Marie was distraught and grieving, and, according to Patricia, absolutely terrified that the vision would come true, even though she had never had one before. Patricia says she begged your grandmother to stay, but Marie wouldn't listen. The only contact that she ever had with the magical world from that time on was Patricia, who came over to visit every so often, pretending to be a Muggle."

"I remember she used to come over sometimes when we visited Grandma," said Amy. "She was very nice. You're telling me that she's a witch, sir?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "Anyway, after the death of her son-"

"Wait – her son died?" asked Harry.

"When I was two," said Amy quietly.

Harry seemed to freeze for a moment. "Oh," he said. "Um – I…sorry." Despite his slight stuttering, he seemed to genuinely mean it.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, and they looked at him. "After the death of her son, which was most unfortunate," continued Dumbledore, looking at Amy, "She became somewhat distraught again. Patricia says that sometimes she would seem to forget she was pretending to be a Muggle, and talk about things such as the Ministry of Magic."

"Oh!" exclaimed Amy. "So that's what she was talking about. Sir, she used to tell me strange things all the time before she died!" Suddenly, something occurred to her. "Sir, is there such a place as St. Mungo's?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Why, yes there is! It's the wizarding hospital in London. Did your grandmother mention it?"

"Yes, she did, when she was a having the heart attack that killed her, sir."

Dumbledore nodded sympathetically.

"But, sir," said Harry, "If Amy's grandmother erased all magical records of her family, and changed her name to Philips, how did you know Amy existed and that her real last name was Evans?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Fortunately, the Ministry of Magic has records of every witch and wizard that are charmed so that they cannot be erased. Also, there is a quill at the Ministry that records when a witch or wizard is born, and writes down their name so that we have a list of students that are to attend Hogwarts. When miss Evans was born, her real name appeared on the list.

"Well," said Amy, "That _would_ explain it."

Dumbledore nodded, and then turned to Harry, although, Amy noticed, he never really looked him in the eye. "I know it must be difficult to have to live with the Dursleys when you now have other relatives who could take care of you, Harry, but the current circumstances demand that you remain at Privet Drive."

"But-" protested Harry, but then he stopped himself. "Fine."

As they got up to leave, Dumbledore called out to Amy, "And by the way, miss Evans, there is no need to feel ashamed of the actions you took to get here. You did the right thing."

Amy looked at him, shocked. How had he known? But Amy felt better as Dumbledore smiled at her, winking. And as Dumbledore waved them out of his office, she remembered what Nick and Erin had told her about Dumbledore believing Harry's story, and about how the Ministry was going up against him, discriminating him where they could. She felt a sudden pang of pity. Dumbledore was so nice, and from what she had heard, he had done a lot for the wizarding community. She found her dislike for the Ministry start to increase again.

Harry's voice broke her out of her thoughts. "What did Dumbledore mean when he said, "you did the right thing?" he asked hesitantly as they walked back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Oh," said Amy, "That. Well, my mum didn't want me to come to Hogwarts, so I sort of…came anyway."

"You…you ran away?"

"Yes, okay! I ran away!" burst out Amy angrily. "I don't know why everyone makes such a big deal about it!"

"Well," thought Harry, "Maybe because it _is_ a big deal."

"I know!" said Amy. "But can't people give me break? I feel really guilty about it as it is!"

They walked in silence for a moment before Harry said, "Well, maybe you shouldn't. You heard what Dumbledore said. You did the right thing."

"I guess…"

The pair walked on in silence. They were almost at the portrait hole when Amy said, "I'm sorry about your parents and everything, and about how the Ministry's been treating you."

"…Thanks," said Harry.

"And, well…I think I believe you," she continued.

"You do?" he asked unbelievingly.

"Yeah," said Amy. "I mean, it makes sense. Can't really see why you and Dumbledore would lie about something like that."

Harry smiled; the first real smile Amy had seen him wear. "Thanks." There was silence once more for a moment, and then Harry said, "I'm sorry about your grandparents and dad too."

"…Thanks," she said.

"_Mimbulus mimbletonia_," Harry said to the fat lady.

Once inside the common room, Harry turned to Amy. "So…I guess we're cousins then…or, well, distant cousins removed a couple times."

"I guess so."

Well…it was nice to meet you," he said, holding out his hand.

"You too," replied Amy, shaking it.

"So…I'll see you around sometime?"

"Yeah," said Amy. "Definitely."

Harry waved goodbye to Amy and went over to his friends, Ron and Hermione, who were obviously waiting for a recount of Dumbledore's explanation. Amy wandered over to her friends, who were obviously waiting for the same reason.

Sure enough, the first thing Nick and Erin said when she reached them was, "_Well_?" So she explained the whole, complicated story to them. They seemed to share Dumbledore's view that it was an "interesting story".

She had just finished her explanation when there was a tapping noise from over on the window. The three friends looked up to see Tawny on the windowsill with a letter tied to her leg.

"That's odd," commented Nick. "Usually owls deliver their mail in the morning…"

Amy nodded and went over to the window. She opened it and took the letter from Tawny, who gave her finger an affectionate nip before flying off again. Amy closed the window, sat down next to Erin and ripped open the envelope. She froze.

"What's wrong?" asked Erin.

"It's from my mum," whispered Amy.

Erin gasped and Nick paled, making it all that much harder for Amy to summon up the courage to look down at the letter. Finally, she took a deep breath and read it.

_AMY!_

_I AM ABSOLUTLY DISGUSTED WITH YOUR BEHAVYOUR! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I WAS, OR HOW HORRIFIED I BECAME WHEN I FOUND YOUR NOTE? THIS IS NOT FUNNY! YOU ARE TO COME HOME IMIDAIATLY! IF YOU DO NOT, AND CHOSE TO STAY IN THAT _FREAK SCHOOL_, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO COME HOME AT ALL FOR QUITE SOME TIME! HOW DARE YOU DISOBYE ME SO COMPLETELY? I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO TRUST YOU AGAIN!_

_Mum_

_P.S. Your letter sent with Tawny did _not_ help!_

Amy chocked back a sob as her hands started to tremble. Her mom had never been this angry with her before. It made her feel so bad, like she had committed some terrible crime. Her mum hadn't even sighed the letter with "Love, mum" or anything…just, "Mum". Amy bit her lip. And she had called Hogwarts a freak school! A _freak school_! Suddenly Amy's fear and sadness turned into anger.

"Amy," That was Erin's voice. "Amy, what's wrong?"

But Amy didn't want to talk about it. She stood up, threw the letter at Erin and Nick, and pounded her way up to her dormitory. As she left, she heard Nick open the letter and say, "Oooh, that's harsh."

Amy slammed the door to her dormitory and threw herself onto her bed, where she closed the curtains and pummelled her pillow until her hands were sore, and then collapsed, crying silently. Would her mother ever forgive her? Would she ever be able to go home again? After a few hours she heard her roommates come up, but she ignored them, even Erin, and went to sleep without even bothering to change.

The next morning Amy awoke with renewed determination. She kept what Dumbledore had said to her fresh in her head; it made her feel better. She dressed quickly and grabbed her book bag before heading down to the common room to find Nick and Erin, with full intensions of not discussing the previous night's events at all.

When she came down from the dormitories it was to find her two friends sitting on a nearby couch, waiting for her.

"Um, Amy," began Erin. "About last night-"

"Do you want to get some breakfast?" interrupted Amy briskly.

"No, Amy, it's just…you forgot this…" said Nick, handing her another envelope.

Amy looked at it for a moment, and then ripped it open. Her eyes went wide. Inside was a letter from Tomas.

"It came with the other letter last night," explained Erin.

Amy sank down into an armchair and read the letter.

_Dear Amy,_

_You are the best! That was totally awesome, how you escaped to Hogwarts without mum even knowing! She's really mad, and she says I can't write to you, but if you can run away, then I can hide a measly letter. How are you? Are you okay? What's it like at a school that teaches magic? Is it totally awesome? I bet it is…Hey, if I get into Hogwarts, will you help me sneak past mum to get there? I bet you could…you really fooled mom! It was amazing! Please write back to me soon; don't worry, I'll hide it from mum._

_Your brother,_

_Tomas_

_P.S. You really fooled me, too, you know._

Amy smiled and laughed. She knew she should disapprove of Tomas disobeying their mother, but after what she had done, who was she to tell him off? At least this way she wouldn't be totally estranged from her family.

Still smiling, she handed the letter to Erin and Nick so they could read.

"So?" asked Erin when she had finished reading. "Are you going to write him back?"

"Yup," replied Amy, taking out some parchment and a quill.

When she was done her letter and had folded it up, Erin cleared her throat and said awkwardly, "You know, Amy…about your mum…well, you know that we totally support your decision, right?"

"Huh?" asked Amy, looking up.

"About running away," Nick elaborated. "We're completely on your side of this whole…er – issue."

"Really?"

Erin nodded. "Definitely. And we're here for you," she said, squeezing Amy's hand.

Immediately, Amy felt much better. It was such a relief to have the support of her friends. And them being there for her meant more to her than she could say. Suddenly the idea of living without her mother's support seemed not only possible, but also achievable, and not as difficult as she had thought.

Amy smiled again, looking at each of them. "Thanks, you guys."

"Don't mention it," said Erin. "Well, come on…let's go live the day! Besides, I'm hungry."

Amy and Nick laughed as they followed Erin to the portrait hole. As Amy tucked the letter to Tomas into her pocket to deliver later, she felt something. Confused, she grabbed it and took it out. It was the sherbet lemon Dumbledore had given her. Smiling, she popped it into her mouth.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Heeheehee…the plot thickens ever so slightly…I know, I know, I'm kind of pathetic, but what are you going to do? (hint: review) I know I could have been nice and have Amy's mom forgive her, but that's just not how it's going to work. Will she forgive her eventually?… you'll just have to wait and see. (Muhahahahah!) (yes, I did have sugar recently).

Anyway, now I have a sort of framework built up. Go me! I hope that the explanation for the whole Evans thing wasn't cliché, and was at least a bit original and believable (I actually like to think it makes sense…) So please, please review and tell me what you think of that…it took me a while to come up with the whole Evans story. And in the meantime, you can tell me what you thought of the rest of the chapter too:)


	9. Midnight Adventure

A/N: Yay! More than 30 reviews! I'm so happy! (And hyper). Anyway, I'm hoping this chapter will be fun (and hopefully shorter!!!) I can't believe how long my chappies have been. I might just have to get used to it. Oh, well.

Disclaimer: Honestly, if you haven't figured it out by now, I am _not_ J. K. Rowling! I also, unfortunately, do not know how to make a Polyjuice potion to become her, as that is N.E.W.T. level and I am only in fourth year.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to my awesome friends! A lot of them are celebrating birthdays around now…Happy Birthday Everyone!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 9: Midnight Adventure

"Hey, Erin, can I copy your Transfiguration essay? I only need another inch."

"No, Nick.

"But it's due in the morning!"

"Exactly. You should have done it ages ago," replied Erin, looking up from her game of chess, which she had recently taught Amy to play.

"Fine," muttered Nick.

"Just make sure you finish soon. We're leaving for Astronomy in half an hour," Amy reminded him, not looking up.

It was a Wednesday night near the end of September and Amy, Erin and Nick were all sitting by the fire, a spot that had been easy to obtain so late at night, when only others in their Astronomy class and a few sixth and seventh years were still in the common room.

Amy and Erin got to enjoy another twenty minutes of Nick's grumbling while they played chess before he had finished his homework.

"Done," he finally said.

"Us too," declared Amy. She instructed her knight to move forward and left, then said triumphantly, "Check mate!"

"Ah, no!" exclaimed Erin. "You win every time! How do you do it?"

Amy just grinned mischievously as they picked up their bags and left the common room, other first year Gryffindors in tow.

They walked silently through the halls to the Astronomy tower. They were just passing the Owlery when they saw movement up ahead.

"Who's that?" Amy whispered to Erin, who shrugged.

The three of them backed into the shadows to hide themselves and watched as a squat figure made its way towards them, and then turned into the Owlery. As the figure stepped into the room, moonlight from the Owlery's many windows lit its face. It was Dolores Umbridge, their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"What's she doing, delivering a letter in the middle of the night?" asked Erin when Professor Umbridge had closed the Owlery door.

"I don't know…" replied Amy slowly.

"Hey, guys, what's going on?"

Amy jumped and whirled around. The speaker was René, who moved towards them with Cary following behind.

"Oh," said Amy, "It's just you. We just saw Umbridge go into the Owlery and close the door."

"Why would she need to send a letter at this time of night?" asked Erin. "And why not do it from her office?"

"Maybe she doesn't have an owl," said Nick, answering her last question.

"Maybe she's sending a letter to the Ministry," whispered René. "She works for Cornelius Fudge, you know. She's Senior Under-secretary to the Minister."

"She is?" asked Amy. She had suspected that the professor had something to do with the Ministry because of her "Ministry approved" teaching techniques, but this was new information.

"Yeah," said René, nodding. "My mum told me. She works for the Ministry too, in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. She deals with the British Quidditch League."

"Why would she need to be mailing Fudge in secret, though?" asked Erin.

"I don't know," said René, shrugging. "But my mum says that Fudge doesn't trust Dumbledore these days. You know how the Ministry is opposing him, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Well, apparently Fudge is scared of Dumbledore. He knows Dumbledore's more powerful than he is, so he thinks Dumbledore's trying to take his job. Dumbledore's been offered the position of Minister for Magic a few times, but he's always turned it down. Now Fudge sees him as a threat to his power."

"Maybe that's why he doesn't want us learning defensive spells," said Cary, speaking for the first time. "He's scared Dumbledore's going to teach us to fight so that we can be like an army to defeat the Ministry."

They all looked at her.

"How'd you figure that one?" asked Nick incredulously.

Cary shrugged. "It made sense. I've heard strange things, and it all added up."

"You're right," whispered Erin.

Just then, they heard a noise. The five of them just barley managed to step behind the corner before the Owlery door opened, and Umbridge walked out, scurrying up the corridor and out of sight.

"Right," said René. "Come on, let's hurry or we'll be late."

By the time they reached the Astronomy Tower, they were indeed a few minutes late for class. "Sorry Professor," they all mumbled as they each went to stand by a telescope.

Amy had a hard time concentrating, and as a result had to fix a few mistakes on her star map every once in a while. Her mind kept wandering to the conversation they had had in the corridor. So, Umbridge was sending messages in secret to Fudge, and wouldn't let them study defensive magic because Fudge was scared of Dumbledore. It all made sense, although Amy could not help but think that the Ministry was not all that smart for thinking Dumbledore wanted to make an army.

It was a relief when the class finally ended, and Amy caught up with Erin and Nick. They had just left the tower and were making their way to the common room when Erin said, "Uh, guys?"

"Yeah?" answered Nick vaguely.

"Do you mind if we stop for a bit? I – er, have to use the washroom."

"Can't you wait until we get to Gryffindor Tower?" asked Amy. "We shouldn't be out at night."

"Sorry," apologized Erin, "But I really have to go. Been waiting since class started."

"Fine," said Amy. "You can use the one just around the corner. We'll wait for you."

When they arrived at the bathroom door, Erin slipped inside with a whisper of thanks, and Amy and Nick waited outside. Erin was just coming out again when they heard a noise come from around the corner.

"Thanks gu-"

"Shhh!" whispered Amy, covering Erin's mouth. She motioned for her friends to follow her as she walked up the corridor and peered around the corner. Professor McGonagall and Professor Sinistra were talking in the hallway beyond.

"Why is McGonagall up so late?" asked Nick. "Professor Sinistra must have just come from teaching us but-"

"SHHHH!" urged both girls.

The three friends leaned against the wall and strained to hear what the Professors were saying.

"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "I agree. It's absolutely absurd, what the Ministry is doing. I understand he feels threatened, but that's no reason to sacrifice the student's safety by not letting them do defensive spells!"

"I know," said Professor Sinistra. "And I can't believe Fudge thought Dumbledore would actually fall for it. Dumbledore's much too clever to let something like this stop him from supporting Harry. I don't understand why Fudge is doing this; Dumbledore knows what he's doing, and what's going on. Although…" She dropped her voice. "I _do_ wonder what exactly Dumbledore is doing, trusting Snape…I mean… he was a…a Death Eater."

Amy, Erin and Nick froze. Professor Snape, their Potions teacher, had been a Death Eater? They had known that he was cruel and biased but…this was a lot to take in.

"Snape turned spy for us before You-Know-Who's downfall…Dumbledore wouldn't have trusted him if he didn't have solid proof that Snape was on our side," Professor McGonagall was saying. "We have to trust Dumbledore's judgement. Besides…if we can't trust Dumbledore…who can we trust?"

Professor Sinistra sighed. "Yes…yes, I suppose you're right. We have to trust Dumbledore." There was a long silence before she continued, "Well, I'm sorry, Minerva, but I should really get back to my office. I have some things to sort out before morning."

"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "I, too, should be off. I had just come to get some papers from my office."

The two Professors exchanged goodnights, and the trio heard footsteps moving away. But they also heard footsteps coming towards them.

Erin gasped. "Oh, no…oh, darn. One of them is coming this way! She'll see us!"

Nick froze.

"Come on!" Amy whispered. "This way, let's go!"

She led the way down the hall as quickly as she dared, trying her best not to make any noise. Unfortunately, however, when she and her friends reached another corner, they bumped into something.

It was Mrs. Norris.

"Oh, no," muttered Nick. "Oh no, oh no, oh no."

"Quick!" shouted Erin, abandoning all attempts at stealth. She grabbed Amy and Nick by the arms and ran down another corridor. Soon all three were running as fast as they could through the castle. Before long they could hear Filch, having been alerted by his cat, wheezing after them.

They were just running down a corridor with a huge tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and some trolls when Mrs. Norris appeared at the other end of the corridor, cutting them off. They doubled back, but with the sounds of Filch coming closer, they decided to take the cat, and turned back once more.

"There's nowhere to hide!" exclaimed Nick. "We could be expelled if we're caught!"

"Oh, suck it up!" shouted Erin. "Wait, look!"

A door now stood on the stretch of wall that had previously been blank.

"That's weird," said Amy. "I could have sworn that wall was-"

"It doesn't matter!" whispered Erin franticly, grabbing both Amy and Nick, twisting the handle and shoving them through the door. They were inside what appeared to be a broom closet.

Outside, they could still hear Filch. "We'll get them my sweet," he was saying, obviously talking to his cat.

"Oh no!" Amy whispered loudly. "He'll open the door! If only there was a lock!"

Suddenly, a lock appeared on the door, locking them inside. They stared at it, stunned. Then they heard Filch coming nearer, and held their breaths as he walked past.

"Strange," they heard him mutter. "I thought cleaning supplies were kept in there…"

They waited until his footsteps had disappeared until they unlocked the door and emerged cautiously from the closet.

"Why didn't Filch check the door?" asked Nick.

Amy shrugged, but Erin closed the door so that they could look at it. It had a lady's room sign on it.

"Oh," said Amy. "That's why."

"So Nick was in a girl's bathroom," teased Erin.

"What?" said Nick, jumping. "No. Oh, no. See, technically, it wasn't even a washroom, so…"

Erin and Amy tried to refrain from laughing.

"What's with this room, anyway?" asked Amy. "Why did it just appear out of nowhere, right when we needed it?"

"I donno," answered Erin. "Well, come on. We'll solve this mystery another time…when we're _not_ in danger of getting detention."

"Good idea," muttered Nick.

They walked quickly and silently through the castle, hoping not to run into anyone else. They almost had a close encounter with Peeves, but they managed to slip down a passage covered by a tapestry before he could see them. Luckily, they reached the fat lady without another incident.

"My, my," she said upon seeing them. "Where have _you_ been?"

"Never mind," said Erin shortly. "_Mimbulus mimbletonia_."

"Fine," grumbled the fat lady as she swung forward to admit them.

The three friends had just clambered into the common room when Amy heard someone call her name. She looked around to see Harry, who, except for Ron and Hermione, was the last one in the common room.

"And what have you been up to?" he asked, seemingly innocently. "Weren't out for a night time stroll, were you?"

"No," said Amy, a little too quickly. "We just got back from Astronomy."

"If my calculations are correct, that class ended more than half an hour ago," said Harry, looking at them suspiciously. Ron and Hermione were now looking over at them too.

"Um, yes but, we – er, stopped so that Erin could go to the washroom on the way back."

"And that took over half an hour?" asked Harry.

"Well, no – we, er – got a bit lost after that and had to find our way back."

Harry stared at her for a while, and she stared back, hoping her face wouldn't give her away. She didn't exactly know why she didn't want Harry to know about their little "adventure", but somehow…maybe because the conversation they had overheard had involved him…she couldn't tell him.

"Right," said Harry slowly. "Sure. Well, then, off you go."

At this, Ron grinned and Hermione rolled her eyes, but Amy hurriedly bid Nick goodnight, grabbed Erin and dragged her up the staircase. She could hear Harry chuckling, but she supposed that was fair. Of course he hadn't believed her story. Although, now that she thought about it…half of it was true.

Amy and Erin changed and got into bed quietly, so as not to wake René and Cary, who were already asleep. But Amy, on the other hand, couldn't sleep. She was still too excited about the whole adventure and still too curious about the appearing door to close her eyes.

"'Night," Erin called through the curtains around their beds.

"'Night," replied Amy.

"Oh, and Amy?"

"Yeah?"

"You suck at lying."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Well, there you go! Amy's first midnight wandering! Yay! (I'll stop using so many exclamation marks now…) This chapter was a lot of fun to write. It was also shorter! (A little bit, anyway.) Plus, Amy now has a lot more info on Snape! Woohoo! (So much for fewer exclamation marks…) Oh, yeah, and can you guess which room they were hiding in? Probably. Oh, and you know what's coming next, don't you? Check what happens on the first weekend of October in Harry's fifth year…

Right. Now, review. Please? Maybe I'll dedicate the next chapter to everyone who can correctly guess what's coming next, unless there are too many people…but still! Review! It helps me a lot!


	10. Defence Lessons

A/N: Wow, chapter 10::triumphant music:: My total number of chapters now has two digits! It may be pathetic, but I'm way excited about this. Laugh if you want, I don't care. Cool, I have more than 40 reviews! You guys are awesome, but nobody guessed what this chapter would be about! Ah, well, you'll just have to see what I meant by reading chapter 10!

Disclaimer::using hand signals and speaking slowly:: _I…do…not…own…Harry… Potter!!!_ There! Now, even Umbridge should get the point!

Dedication: Dedicated once more to all my awesome reviewers! You rock!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 10: Defence Lessons

"Ahh!" cried Amy, sitting up with a jolt, panting. She looked around the dormitory; it was still dark.

Erin shifted from the bed beside Amy's and looked at her. "What's up?" she asked.

"It's just – just another dream…" said Amy faintly.

"You've been having those a lot," commented Erin. "Do you think you should see Madame Pomfrey?"

"What?" asked Amy, coming back to earth. "Oh – oh, no they're…they're just nightmares…I'm sure they'll pass…"

Erin looked doubtful, but rolled over and went back to sleep. Once Amy had calmed down, she did the same. She had been having strange dreams for about a week now. It was always the same one. In it, she would be walking down a dimly lit hallway, with a door at the end. As she got closer to the door, she would feel the sense of longing. But the emotion was never her own; she sensed it was someone else's. The worst part was, the closer she got to the door, the more she felt that there was something terribly, terribly wrong. She knew that someone wanted the door open, but she felt a strengthening sense of dread that clearly told her that the door should never be opened. Erin was getting a bit worried, wondering why the nightmares were occurring.

Besides these dreams, Amy's life was continuing as normal…or as normal as it could ever get at Hogwarts. Classes were getting more and more interesting, as they began to master the basics, and Amy loved them. She and everyone else in her Transfiguration class had managed to turn their match into a needle the previous week. Unfortunately, this also meant that they were getting more homework, a fact that none of the students seemed to like.

Amy had gotten another letter from Tomas recently, but still no word from her mother. According to Tomas, she was still "way mad". Amy had decided not to dwell on this, and instead carried on with her life, refusing to write to her mother again.

Amy got up a bit late the next morning, and had to rush down to breakfast, where she found Erin and Nick reading the _Daily Prophet_ at the Gryffindor table, which Erin had subscribed to, saying it was always good to know what was happening, especially in times like these.

"Hey guys," she said, sitting next to them. "What's up?"

"I'll tell you what's up," replied Erin disgustedly, folding out the newspaper in front of Amy. "_This_."

Amy looked down at the front page and gasped. A large picture of Dolores Umbridge took up almost half the page. Above it was the headline:

MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM

DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED

FIRST EVER HIGH INQUISITOR

"Hi – High Inquisitor?" asked Amy. "What does that mean?"

"It means," explained Erin. "That the Minister passed some other stupid Educational Decree that gives Umbridge more power than the average teacher."

"Oh, oh," said Amy. "That can't be good."

"It's not," agreed Nick. "Educational Decree Number Twenty-three states that the Minister can appoint a High Inquisitor at Hogwarts."

"And Fudge appointed Umbridge," filled in Amy.

"Unfortunately, yes," commented Erin.

"The High Inquisitor," Nick continued, now holding up the newspaper and scanning the article, "Will be able to inspect other teachers, put them on probation, and even fire them."

"As well as send reports of everything back to the Ministry, I'm sure," added Erin.

"So, basically," continued Nick, "This gives the Ministry a lot more power over Hogwarts. And last time an Educational Decree was passed, Number Twenty-two, I think, _she_ got the job of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," he finished, jabbing his finger at Umbridge's picture.

"It gave the Ministry the power to appoint a teacher if the Headmaster failed to find a worthy candidate," explained Erin, when she saw the confused look on Amy's face.

Amy could think of nothing to say except, "Urgh."

"Urgh, indeed," replied Erin, nodding.

For the next few days, all anyone could talk about was the new High Inquisitor, wondering just how much effect her new position would have on the school. The answer came within a week: Umbridge started inspecting teacher's classes, making all classes nothing short of "interesting" and irritating all the teachers.

"I hate having her in there, watching us work," said Erin indignantly, after having a Charms class which Umbridge had inspected.

"I know," sighed Amy, "But I guess there's nothing we can do about it right now."

But the full impact of having a High Inquisitor did not hit them until Monday morning. Amy and Erin had just gotten up, and were coming down into the common room, chatting merrily. When they got there, they found a crowd of people around the notice board. They met up with Nick just as Amy saw Harry and his friends leave through the portrait hole, looking angry. The rest of the students seemed to be upset as well.

"What's up?" Erin asked Nick.

"There's a new notice," he replied.

"What does it say?" asked Amy cautiously.

"Well," said Nick hesitantly, "It starts with the words 'By order of the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts'."

"Oh, no," moaned Erin.

" 'All student organisations, teams, groups and clubs are henceforth disbanded…'" started Nick, reading the notice aloud.

Amy bit her lip.

Nick read on for a while, before finishing with, " 'The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-four. Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor'."

"_Another_ Educational Decree?" asked Erin in disbelief. "That's three Educational Decrees in less than two months!"

"So, we can't be in a group or club or anything without Umbridge's permission?" asked Amy.

"Seems like it," replied Nick.

"We're doomed," stated Erin calmly.

"Well, yes," agreed Amy. "But it seems like a rather strange rule to put in place. I wonder what caused her to pass this decree?"

Both her friends shrugged. As they went out the portrait hole, they saw Fred and George, Ron's older brothers, trying to sell some of their "merchandise" in a corner.

After lunch, a few days later, Amy, Erin and Nick decided to go outside to enjoy the nice weather. While they were walking towards the lake, Amy saw Harry walk by. She waved and smiled at him, and he waved and smiled back.

It was strange; Amy hadn't really expected Harry to keep in touch with her at all after their visit to the Headmaster's office, but he had. He would wave and smile at Amy whenever he passed her in the halls, and every once in a while would stop to say hi and see how she was doing.

This was one of those times. He walked over, stopped in front of her and said, "Hi."

"Hi," she replied.

"How's it going?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I'm okay. But I don't like this new High Inquisitor thing; the Ministry's way out of line. Especially since she worked for them in the first place."

Harry looked surprised. "You know that Umbridge is with the Ministry?" he asked.

"Yeah," replied Amy, shrugging. "We figured it out. What, you didn't think me and my friends were stupid, did you?"

"Well – no – I…. I just…never mind," he stuttered as Amy laughed.

"So how about you?" asked Amy. "Anything life-threatening happen to you yet this year?"

"Not yet," answered Harry, chuckling. "Just a few detentions with Umbridge, nothing major."

Amy stared. "You've had detentions with Umbridge? Harry, that's _not_ good."

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, but it wasn't _that_ bad. I'm mean, she didn't get a chance to publicly discriminate me while I was there or anything." He ran a hand through his jet-black hair.

As he did, Amy saw something that looked like writing on the back of his hand.

"What's that?" she asked curiously, indicating.

"Oh, um, th-that's nothing," said Harry quickly, hiding his hand.

Amy frowned at him suspiciously, and then, without warning, snatched at his hand.

"Hey!" exclaimed Harry as Amy pulled his hand to her eye level and examined it.

"_I must not tell lies_?" Amy read. She turned to look at Erin and Nick, who were standing just behind her. "I'll catch up with you later, okay guys?" she said to them, looking apologetic.

"Sure," said Erin understandingly, and she and Nick walked back up to the castle, leaving Amy to talk to her distant cousin removed a few times…or something like that.

Amy looked Harry in the eye. "What's this all about?" she asked, determined to weasel an answer out of him.

"Well," he started, "It's a – a, erm-"

Amy glared at him.

He sighed, defeated. "Okay, fine," he said. "In detention, Umbridge is making me write "I must not tell lies" over and over again with a quill that cuts the back of my hand when I write with it on parchment, and uses my blood as ink."

Amy made a face, disgusted. "She makes you write with your own blood?"

"Yeah," sighed Harry. "I don't think the scar will ever go away, now."

"She wants you to have a constant reminder that you shouldn't tell what she calls lies," stated Amy. "That is seriously twisted, Harry. You should tell Dumbled-"

"No," said Harry sharply. "I've already explained to Ron and Hermione. I don't want to get him into this."

"But-" stammered Amy, beginning to protest.

"Hey, Harry!"

She was interrupted by a tall, red headed figure, which was running across the lawn towards them. Ron stopped just in front of Harry, acknowledged Amy with a nod, and then said to his best friend, "Harry, I just talked to Ernie and Hannah – you know, about the defence group thing – and they can make it for tonight-"

"Ron-" began Harry warningly, but Amy cut him off.

"Defence group thing?" she repeated.

Ron froze. "Oops," he said.

"Oops?" repeated Amy indignantly.

Harry sighed. "It's okay Ron…I'll talk to her, just…you just go…"

"I'll go tell Hermione," said Ron quickly, and without another word, he sprinted towards the castle.

"_Defence group thing_?" Amy repeated again, starting to get angry.

Harry shook his head and looked at her. "Um, well – we're sort of starting a – well, a defence club, of sorts, to teach people Defence Against the Dark Arts, since Umbridge clearly isn't doing a very good job and people have to be prepared-"

"But Umbridge wouldn't give you permission for that sort of thing!" exclaimed Amy, interrupting his explanation. "Fudge already thinks Dumbledore's building an army! You'll be breaking Educational Decree Number Whatever-we're-at-now!"

Harry just stared at her.

"What?" she asked, slightly amused. "Didn't think I knew about the whole army thing?"

Harry shook his head.

Amy rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid, you know. And I'm getting less and less naïve every day."

Harry chuckled. "I suppose you are. Anyway, we – that is to say – Hermione – thought up the idea of starting a defence group before Umbridge came up with the new Educational Decree."

Amy gasped. "So _that's_ why she wrote it! I knew there had to be some reason!"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Someone in the Hog's Head must have told her."

"The Hog's Head?" asked Amy, confused.

"Oh," said Harry. "I guess you wouldn't know. It's a pub in the village of Hogsmeade."

"That all-magical village close to Hogwarts?"

"That's the one," said Harry. "We had a meeting there with everyone interested in joining on the last Hogsmeade trip."

"So," said Amy. "You're still going to have this defence group, even though you'll get expelled if you're caught?"

Harry nodded.

"Cool," replied Amy.

"That's it?" asked Harry. "Just 'cool'?"

"Yup," answered Amy.

Harry shrugged. "Okay."

"So…who's going to be teaching everyone defensive magic in this little group of yours?" asked Amy.

"Uh…well, me," replied Harry.

Amy nodded. "That makes sense. I mean, I've heard you're good at Defence Against the Dark Arts, and with all the stuff you did…"

Harry sighed. "Everyone keeps saying that," he said. "But all that stuff I did…it's really not that amazing. I could easily have been killed. Most of it was just luck…I was just sort of winging it…"

"Being able to wing it is an important skill," observed Amy. "And that's kind of the point, isn't it? You've been through it all…you understand what it's like, and you can help others prepare for it. Plus, I mean…you're really good at Defence Against the Dark Arts!"

"I guess," sighed Harry.

"So," asked Amy matter-of-factly. "Where's the first meeting?"

"It- what?"

"Well, Ron said the first meeting was tonight, so I'm asking where it is," explained Amy.

"Why?" asked Harry.

"Well, so I can come, of course," Amy, elaborated. "And Erin and Nick too if they want to-"

"No," said Harry.

"Huh?"

"You're not coming," said Harry, a little louder than before.

Amy blinked. "Why not?"

"Because," explained Harry, exasperated, "If we're caught, we'll be expelled, and I don't want you and your friends in that situation."

"Why not?" asked Amy, getting angry again. "You stopped Voldemort from getting the stone, risking expulsion, when you were my age!"

"Exactly," said Harry. "I don't want you getting involved in any of that, it's too dangerous-"

"_What_?" began Amy, outraged. "But you did stuff that-"

"That was different," stated Harry.

"No it wasn't! There's no reason for you to get all big-brother-y on me!"

"I just want you to be safe-"

"That's what my mum said when she said I couldn't go to Hogwarts!" yelled Amy. "But I still-"

"Look," Harry yelled back, "I _have_ to get all big-brother-y on you! The only other relatives I have are the Dursleys, and we hate each other, so you're all I've got!"

There was silence for a moment as Harry's words sunk in. Amy didn't know what to say.

"Sorry," she said at last.

Harry merely nodded.

"But…you know…" said Amy carefully. "If you want to keep me safe…maybe it would be better if you taught me how to defend myself."

Harry just looked at her.

"And really, when you think about it…I'm in a lot more danger from Voldemort than from the Ministry right now…"

"But it's important that you stay at Hogwarts and learn magic," objected Harry, "So that you can be better prepared if you ever do get attacked by Voldemort."

"But the class that would have prepared me best for that is completely useless. Therefore, I think it's important that I learn defensive magic from other sources," concluded Amy.

"But-" argued Harry.

"Seriously," said Amy, putting her hands on her hips. "I don't think being able to turn a match into a needle is going to help me in an attack."

Harry just looked at her for a moment, and then smiled. "You'd be surprised," he said. He laughed at the confused look on her face, and then said, "Fine, you can come."

Amy brightened. "Erin and Nick too?"

"Sure," said Harry, throwing his hands up in the air. "Just make sure to be really, really careful when you're coming to or leaving a meeting, talking about the lessons-"

"I'll be sure," Amy interrupted him, laughing.

"So anyway, the first meeting's tonight in the Room of Requirement. There's no way Umbridge will find us there. It's on the seventh floor behind a door that appears opposite that tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy-"

"Oh!" Amy gasped. "So that's what that it!" She then explained to Harry about the room they had entered while running from Filch.

"Yeah," said Harry, looking impressed. "That'd be it." She had half expected him to tell her off for wandering the corridors at night, but, really, with the number of times he had done it, how could he? Instead, he just told her exactly how to make the door appear.

"So…you'll be there? Eight o'clock?" he asked.

"Of course," replied Amy, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

Harry sighed and smiled at her. "Congratulations," he said. "You are now officially the youngest member in my defence group."

Amy smiled back, raising her fist in the air in mock triumph. "Go me."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Wow, that turned out longer than I expected it to be. Oh, well. As we have come to the end of the tenth chapter of my story, I feel obliged to tell you that this will be a very long fic. It will possibly be in three parts. But that's okay, because I'm going to try to keep updating as often as I have been recently. (I am not going to let something like the gap between chapters two and three happen again.) By the way, did anyone else think that Harry and Amy's conversation was really long?

So? What are you waiting for? Review! How will I know what you thought of the chapter if you don't? Come on now…you know you want too…and if you don't…well, that's too bad, review anyway! (Teehee!)


	11. Dumbledore’s Army

A/N: My birthday was on Friday! Yay! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! Hee hee! (Sorry, I'm just very excited) Hey, Happy Birthday to whomever else might happen to be celebrating one!

Disclaimer: Even though it was recently my birthday, the rights to Harry Potter was not one of my presents, so, sadly, I still do not own the Potterverse.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to birthdays!

(Gee, how much more pathetic can I get?………oh, well) Enjoy the chappie!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 11: Dumbledore's Army

"Defence group?" echoed Nick, as soon as the words were out of Amy's mouth. "But isn't that against Educational Decree Number Twenty-four-"

"I _know_," insisted Amy. "But if you'll stop interrupting, I'll explain the _rest_ of it!"

Amy, Erin and Nick were in charms class. They had recently found that this was a good class to have conversations in, as there was often so much commotion that nobody stood a chance at overhearing them.

Erin punched Nick in the shoulder. "Yeah, Nick, shut up!" she teased.

Nick scowled, rubbing his arm. For such a petite girl, Erin sure could pack a punch.

"Go on then, Amy," Erin encouraged her, before Nick could say anything.

Amy just rolled her eyes and did as instructed. "…So," said Amy, after spending a few minutes explaining the finer details, "Tonight is the first lesson, in the Room of Requirement, which, incidentally, is the room we stumbled upon the other night when we were hiding from Filch-"

"Ooh, really?" asked Erin, so Amy was forced to pause there to explain the Room of Requirement to her best friends.

"Alright," she said when she had finished. "Can I continue now?"

Her friends nodded.

"Anyway," she began again, "We have to be there by eight-"

"_What_?" said Nick, at the same time as Erin said, "Huh?"

"Will everyone _please_ stop interrupting me?" asked Amy loudly, but at that moment, Professor Flitwick passed by, and all three of them pretended to be trying to make their paper clip move around on the table for a while before he was gone.

"Sorry," said Erin, continuing their conversation as though there had been no interruption.

"Anyway, I was just saying that we have to be there by eight-" began Amy.

"We're going?" asked Nick.

"Oh," said Amy blinking, "Did I not mention that?"

Erin and Nick both shook their heads.

"Oops. Well, I'm telling you now," continued Amy unconcernedly. "We're going to these defence meeting things. Or, well, I am. You two don't have to if you don't want to – I just think it would be a good idea."

Both of her friends looked at her for a moment, the same expression of thought on their faces. Then Erin perked up.

"Sure," she said. "I'm in."

"You're _in_?" questioned Nick.

Both girls looked at him.

"Yes," Erin elaborated. "It's something one often says when they agree to a plan, or something of that sort."

"Oh, shut it, I knew what you meant," grumbled Nick, and he had to wait for the girl's laughter to die down before he continued. "But – seriously, it would be taking a big risk. We could get expelled. Don't you think we'll get caught?"

"No," said both girls.

"You thought we were going to be expelled for wandering the halls at night," Erin reminded him.

"But this is different," insisted Nick. "Umbridge wouldn't hesitate to expel you if she caught you."

"Yeah, but Voldemort wouldn't hesitate to _kill_ you if _he_ caught you," Amy countered. "Take your pick."

Nick shuttered at Voldemort's name, but Erin merely shut her eyes tight for a spilt second, and then opened them again. Despite Nick's paranoid warnings that it was dangerous, Amy used Voldemort's name, and Erin was trying hard to learn to do the same. It was hard for her though, as her mother had taught her not to say the name; it was sort of like breaking an old habit.

"…Well… I guess I'd have to pick expulsion," admitted Nick.

"There you go," said Erin. "Better to be prepared than…well, not prepared."

"Brilliant, Erin, simply brilliant," commented Amy sarcastically.

"Thank you," she said, ginning broadly and ignoring the sarcasm.

"But still…" continued Nick. "What if-"

"You don't _have_ to go," Erin noted. "But we are."

After a few moments of silence, Nick folded his arms across his chest and muttered, "Fine, I'll come."

"A little enthusiasm wouldn't kill you," stated Erin.

"But you can't tell anyone," Amy reminded them. "It's an illegal organisation-"

"Yeah, yeah, we know," huffed Erin.

"So we shouldn't be talking about it right now," warned Nick.

The three lapsed into silence and concentrated on their paper clips. Nick seemed to be rather tense.

"You don't have to worry so much," Amy told him after a while. "Harry's not stupid, he'll pull it off."

"Yeah…" sighed Nick. "But still, I'd rather not be expe-"

Just then, the pair of them heard a squeal of delight. They turned to see Erin motioning triumphantly at her paper clip, which, Amy noticed, was now on the far side of their table.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"I told you we went the wrong way!" cried Amy.

"Yes well, I've only been there once, and because of the circumstances, I wasn't really paying attention to where-"

"I vote that we don't take directions from Nick anymore!" exclaimed Erin, stopping Amy and Nick's argument. "Let's go this way."

"Why?" asked Nick.

"Because, your way sucks," explained Erin.

"She has a point," stated Amy, cutting off Nick's comeback.

They followed Erin for the next five minutes, until they came to the famous tapestry of trolls.

Nick gaped at her. "How'd you find it?"

Erin just taped her head. "Excellent memory," she declared.

She started walking passed the blank wall, and the other two followed her. As Amy passed the empty wall, she thought, _We need to get to where Harry would think is a good place to practice Defence Against the Dark Arts,_ because she honestly didn't have a clue what he wanted the Room to be like for the meeting, and she didn't want to end up in the wrong place, or something like that.

After three times passed the wall, she looked up, not entirely surprised to see a door there.

"I guess we got the right place," commented Erin.

"I guess so," agreed Amy, as Nick opened the door cautiously.

Inside was a large room, with bookshelves covered in what appeared to be Defence Against the Dark Arts books, other shelves loaded with strange instruments Amy had never seen before, and piles of pillows strewn across the floor.

"I see you made it," called Harry, who was standing in the middle of the room. Ron and Hermione were also there; Ron was looking interestedly at the strange objects on the shelves, and Hermione was once more submerged in a book, which Amy noticed she did quite often.

"Is anyone else here yet?" asked Amy, looking around.

"Nope," said Harry. "In fact, I'm starting to wonder-"

At that very moment, the door opened, and Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati and Dean entered.

"Whoa," said Dean, looking around with an impressed expression. "What is this place?"

Harry started to explain, but as soon as he did, other people arrived. So he gave up trying to explain until everyone who was supposed to be there turned up.

"Well," said Harry nervously as he stood up. "This is the place we've found for practice sessions, and you've – er – obviously found it OK."

Everyone praised the room for a bit, saying what a good place to practice it would be, and then Harry, answering a question, explained that the strange instruments at the back of the room were dark detectors. Then they voted on a leader (everyone voted for Harry, of course, but Hermione insisted that it was formal and that it gave him authority), and argued for a while over a name for their defence group. They finally agreed on "Dumbledore's Army", because it was the thing the Ministry was most afraid of, and they could call it the DA for short, so that no one else would know what they were talking about.

Then (with a few interruptions from one Zacharias Smith) Harry set them instructions to pair up and practice the disarming spell, _Expelliarmus_. Amy and Erin immediately paired up, accidentally leaving Nick to look around hopelessly.

"Here," sighed Amy, as Erin pulled him over by the arm. "We can be a group of three."

"Thanks," said Nick. "So…now what?"

The three of them looked around at everyone else, firing spells at each other and causing a great many accidents to occur.

"I think it might help if we knew how to perform the spell in question," stated Erin.

"Probably," agreed Amy. She looked around for a good example, and her eyes landed on Hermione, who had just performed a perfect disarming spell on a very disgruntled looking Ron. "There," she told them, pointing. "It's supposed to look like that."

They watched as Hermione shouted, "_Expelliarmus_!" again, causing Ron's wand to soar into the air.

"As opposed to that," commented Erin, noting the attempts of two blond haired brothers, who were causing a great number of books to soar from their shelves.

"Yes," agreed Nick. "Quite."

Amy noticed that Harry was now walking around the room, observing the chaos. "Hey, Harry!" she called. "Over here!"

Harry saw them and came over. "How are you doing?" he asked. "Haven't set fire to anything, I hope?"

"Nope," chirped Erin. "But that isn't for lack of trying so much as the fact that we have no idea how to perform the spell."

"Oh!" exclaimed Harry. "Right, I'm sorry. I forgot that you wouldn't know. Here, I'll teach you…"

A little while later, after many questions and an incident that actually _did_ involve fire, the girls had the basics down and Harry wandered off to check up on the rest of the group, leaving them to their own devices.

Nick frowned. "I still can't get it."

"Here," said Erin. "I'll show you…_ Expelliarmus_!"

"Hey!" exclaimed Amy, as her wand soared out of her hand and into the air. "No fair, I wasn't ready!"

"Who said an attack would be fair?" asked Erin, catching Amy's wand and throwing it back to her.

"Right," said Amy. "Well, you just – just go…I – uh, _Expelliarmus_!"

The girls had an outright battle going on between them for quite a few minutes, which resulted in them both tripping multiple times, and being out of breath from running around. Suddenly, someone else shouted, "_Expelliarmus_!" and both girls looked around to see Nick holding out both of their wands.

"You did it!" yelled Erin, over the noise in the room.

"Yeah," replied Nick. "I-"

But just then a shrill whistle cut him off, and looking around, they all saw it was Harry who had blown it.

"That wasn't bad," he said, "But there's definite room for improvement." Amy noticed that Zacharias Smith glared at Harry as he said this. "Let's try again."

And so, the great commotion started once more. Before starting to practice, Amy found out from Fred himself that the reason Smith had been glaring at Harry was that Fred and George had been causing Smith's wand to fly out of his hand every time he opened his mouth. Erin had to bite back laughter as Amy told this to her and Nick.

The three of them practiced for a while, disarming each other at every possible moment and gaining advantage where they could. Soon, both girls had almost mastered the spell, and Nick became progressively better as the session wore on.

Once, during their practicing, Harry came over to see how they were doing.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"Much better than the last time you checked," replied Amy. "We – hey!" she exclaimed, for Erin had used Amy's momentary laps in concentration to disarm her.

"I can see that," Harry commented, while Amy glared at Erin, who just grinned mischievously back.

After some time, Harry blew the whistle again. "Well, that was pretty good," said Harry, "But we've overrun, we'd better leave it here. Same time, same place next week?"

Several people requested that it be sooner, but Angelina, Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, argued that they needed time for team practice before the first match, so they set the date for the following Wednesday.

"Come on," said Nick, as people started to move towards the door. "We'd better hurry; we don't want to be caught out of the Tower this late."

"Yep," agreed Amy. "So you two had better go ahead, I just want a quick word…" And with that she disappeared through the small crowd, reappearing close to Harry and his friends.

"Hey, Harry," she said. "Good lesson! I'm already getting better at defensive magic."

"You didn't know any to begin with," he commented.

"Well, then, it's even better that I know this. So, good lesson!"

"Er – thanks," said Harry.

"No problem," she chirped. "Sorry Harry, but I've got to go-"

"Here," he said, I'll let you out with Erin and Nick. We're all going out in twos and threes so no one will see us…Okay, go," he finished, pushing Amy and her two other friends out the door.

As Amy snuck down the corridors back to Gryffindor Tower with Erin and Nick, she could not help but feel a sense of accomplishment. She and her friends had learned defensive magic right under Umbridge's nose, without the Ministry or any of the teachers realizing it. They could even continue to learn to defend themselves for as long as necessary, until someone could convince the Ministry to stop forcing stupid Educational Decrees and start letting them have real Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

As Amy, Erin and Nick entered the common room, they saw that most people had not gone up to bed yet. They, however, decided to turn in early, having finished their homework earlier. Amy and Erin waved goodnight to Nick before heading upstairs.

In their dormitory, they met Cary, who was sitting on her bed and reading a book, as usual.

"Where have you two been?" she asked conversationally when she saw them. "I didn't see you in the common room before I came up."

Before Amy could open her mouth, Erin stood on her foot and said casually, "We were in the Library, doing that essay for Snape. We kind of lost track of time."

"Oh, dear," sighed Cary. "I hope you didn't run into trouble?"

"Oh, no," replied Erin. "We were fine."

Cary smiled and nodded, turning back to her book.

_Erin's right,_ thought Amy as she pulled on her pyjamas and got into bed. _I'm not very good at lying_._ Good thing _she_ is_.

What neither of the girls saw, however, was that as they drew the curtains around theirs beds, Cary gave them suspicious, though not unfriendly glances.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Yay, heeheehee! Cary's smart! Well, you'll find out more about that later. This has been my shortest chapter in a while. Cool! By the way, I have 50 reviews. I'm so excited::jumps up and down in delight:: Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

Oh, and, if anyone is wondering, I use the UK Hardcover edition for any references from any of the books, so I got some of Harry's dialogue for this chapter from Book 5.

So now…Please review! (Yes, this is the part where I ask you to press the pretty little button on the bottom left) It would help me so much! Thanks!


	12. Quidditch

A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! Now, I know that hearing about the DA might have been boring…(oh no! It's the dreaded _bore-factor_! Nooooo!) but hopefully it wasn't too bad, because it was Amy's side to the story. (Which doesn't actually exist in the books)

Disclaimer: Am I British? No. Am I known worldwide? No. Do I have millions of dollars? No. So, clearly, I'm not J.K. Rowling, and as such, did not write Harry Potter.

Dedication: Dedicated to Lady Jarine, who pretty much introduced me to the world of writing fan fiction…you should read her stuff!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 12: Quidditch

The next DA meeting proved to be just as exciting as the last, even though they had practiced the same spell. While Erin had successfully disarmed Harry (it turned out that she also had a knack for Defence Against the Dark Arts), Amy had mastered the aiming, and Nick could now always do the spell properly, which was a great improvement for him.

However, when they came into the dormitory, something happened that temporarily put a damper on Amy and Erin's good mood. René and Cary were there, and it appeared that they had been waiting for them.

"Hi," said René, greeting them rather coolly. "How was your defence lesson?"

Amy froze, but Erin managed to keep it together and asked, "Huh? What?"

"You know," continued René, with a false sense of casualty. "The one you didn't tell us about?"

Both Amy and Erin stared at her blankly.

"We heard the Creevey brothers talking about it," explained Cary, her voice quiet and calm, as usual. "One of them mentioned you, Amy. Although, they called you "that Evans girl"…"

"Great," muttered Amy, despite the circumstances. "So, I'll be known throughout the school for the rest of time as "that Evans girl"."

"I'm afraid it does look that way," replied Cary sympathetically.

"Why didn't you bring us?" burst out René suddenly.

"Er…what?" asked Erin.

"The defence meetings that Harry's been having," she elaborated. "Why didn't you bring us along? You knew we were on Dumbledore's side!"

"Oh," said Amy, totally taken-aback. "I – uh…I didn't think…"

"Yes, that's it! We didn't think!" supplied Erin.

Amy looked at her. "Thanks for that," she said sarcastically.

"It's okay," said René quickly. "The point we were trying to make is that we want to join."

"Uh, okay, I guess…and you promise you wouldn't tell Umbridge?" asked Amy.

"Cross my heart," promised René, and Cary nodded.

"Okay…I'll have to talk to Harry, but it should be okay…we'll just add your names to the list…" Amy informed them.

"Thank you," said Cary cheerfully, and she sat down on her bed.

"Oh, and, could Lawrence come too?" added René. "His family and mine are friends…he's with us on the whole Dumbledore vs. Ministry thing."

"Sure," replied Erin. "He'd have to be careful, though. His roommates, Euan and William…they're both among those who think Harry's a psycho freak."

"I'll tell him, after you check with Harry, of course," said René, also going over to her bed.

"Good," answered Amy, doing the same.

Harry approved of the new members when Amy asked him. So, for the next DA meeting, instead of her, Erin and Nick sneaking off alone, they were now joined by René and Cary, along with Lawrence, who was a shy boy with dark brown hair. What they decided to do was to head towards the Room of Requirement in twos; Amy went with Erin, René with Cary, and Nick with Lawrence. This way they avoided suspicion, and they all had familiar partners to work with during the lesson.

It was often difficult for Harry to schedule meetings, though, because they had to accommodate members of three Quidditch teams. Soon, however, Hermione had come up with a solution. She gave them each a fake Galleon, which she had put Protean Charms on. The numbers on the sides, instead of being a serial number, like on the real coins, reflected the date of the next meeting. When Harry changed the date on his, the dates on the rest of theirs would change too, and the coin would get hot in their pocket so they would know it had changed. Plus, if they were asked to turn out their pockets, they were unlikely to get caught, as there was nothing particularly suspicious about having a Galleon in your pocket. Amy could not help but be extremely impressed with Hermione for thinking up something like this, and being able to do that kind of magic.

Before Amy knew it, Halloween had arrived. She woke up to the smell of baking pumpkins wafting through the corridor. 

"Wow, Halloween already. I can't believe these last two months went by so quickly," she mentioned to Erin as they headed for Herbology.

"Yeah," agreed Erin. "But today should be fun. There's a feast at dinner with huge pumpkins and Jack-o-lanterns and live bats and everything!"

"I take it you got this information from your brothers?" asked Amy.

"Where else?" laughed Erin.

"It'll be different than what I'm used to, though," said Amy, voicing something that was troubling her. "I always used to dress up for Halloween and go trick-or-treating."

"We did that with my dad a few times," commented Erin. "It was fun; we got tones of candy."

"We used to have to use pillow cases to hold all the candy we got," continued Amy. "Tara and I would dress up and go out trick-or-treating, and we'd have to bring along Tomas and his best friend, Chris, because my mother would make us. And then we would get home, and she'd check all our candy, and if it was a weekend, we'd stay up all night eating it…"

Erin glanced at her friend anxiously. "Getting homesick?" she asked quietly.

"A bit," replied Amy, just as quietly.

"Well, don't worry. Today will be great, you'll see. The feast will be so spectacular, you won't need trick-or-treat candy."

The feast was, as promised, spectacular. There really were live bats, and some of the Jack-o-lanterns were so big that Amy reckoned three men could have sat comfortably in them. She had a grand time with Erin and Nick, laughing, shrieking as the bats flew at them and eating entirely too much candy.

November arrived, bringing with it cold, blustering winds and leaving bits of frost everywhere overnight. As the temperature outside began to drop, meaning they had to wear their cloaks to Herbology, so the did the temperature inside, so that Amy was extremely thankful that the blankets on her bed were thick when night fell. Flying lessons out on the grounds were also getting less fun because of the wind, although Amy was continuing to show what Madame Hooch called "exceptional talent" in that subject. 

And as November continued, so did the DA meetings. Harry began teaching them new things, like the Reductor Curse and the Impediment Jinx. Erin perfected spells very quickly, especially for her age, but Cary and Amy were never too far behind her. René and Lawrence took a little bit longer to get them, but essentially produced fewer accidents. As he had said, Nick didn't seem to have any particular gift for learning, but he steadily improved with each meeting, getting more and more able to learn the spells on his own.

Amy, Erin and Nick also learned a lot about René and Cary. René was friendly and outgoing, had an almost completely magical family, and had a special talent for Astronomy. Cary, it turned out, was nothing short of a genius; she could do complicated mathematical equations in her head within seconds, and easily understood abstract concepts. It was a sort of special ability. Even though Cary was quiet and shy, the more they got to know her, the more she would talk. Interestingly enough, they didn't learn very much about Lawrence, who hardly spoke at all, and René still wouldn't tell them why.

What with all they had going on, it seemed like no time at all until the first Quidditch match of the season was only a week away. It was then that the pranks, name-calling, and bullying between houses concerning the match became worse. Members from each team were suffering the most; Slytherins would try to trip Gryffindor players as they passed, and the Slytherin team were constantly in danger of being hexed. Insults were thrown liberally in the corridors. Amy noticed that Harry, along with most of the rest of the Gryffindor team, was used to such taunts and tricks, and merely laughed at them, whereas Ron, the new Gryffindor Keeper, would become nervous and turn pale.

The next Saturday, the day of the match, dawned bright and cold, but Amy did not appreciate the view from her window, as she was still sleeping. Or, at least, she was until a certain someone brought a pillow down on her head.

Amy woke with a muffled scream, pushed herself up and flung away her covers, all in the midst of repeated attacks from a pillow. "_Erin_!" she screeched, suddenly finding the dormitory very cold without the blankets on top of her.

"Well, at least now you're awake," said Erin happily, now holding her pillow over her shoulder. "It took a while to wake you up, you must be really tired."

"I _am_," moaned Amy. "And now you've got me up at…" she glanced at her clock, then gasped. "FIVE THIRTY IN THE MORNING!"

Erin took one look at the murderous look on Amy's face, and then ran out the door, pillow still in hand.

"Hey, _you get back here_!" Amy yelled, running out the door after her and leaving René and Cary to mumble confusedly as they, too, were woken up.

Amy and Erin, both still in their night clothes, ran around the common room (Amy still chasing Erin, of course) for a few minutes, and then other students, who had woken to the girl's yelling, made their way down the stairs to watch the chase in mild interest.

Amy was just catching up to Erin (who was surprisingly fast), when either Fred or George (she couldn't tell which, but it was a Weasley twin, anyway) caught her and held her by the arms. She had gotten to know them better during the DA meetings and as a result they did not hold back on her in matters such as pranks anymore.

"Let me go!" she cried desperately, as Erin stuck her tongue out at her from the other end of the room.

"Now, now," said the Weasley twin. "Don't you think it's a bit early to be causing such commotion?"

"Yes," said the other twin, stepping in front of her. "That's _our_ job!"

"But _she_ woke me up at this ghastly hour by attacking me with a pillow!" screamed Amy, pointing an accusing finger in Erin's direction.

"Oh," said one of the twins. "That's alright then."

"Proceed," instructed the other one, and with that, he let go of her.

Amy hurled herself at Erin, who jumped over two armchairs and a couch. In desperation to catch her, Amy threw a pillow at Erin, which bounced off the girl's head. Soon another pillow had come flying towards Amy. The chase continued for several minutes, with many more thrown pillows, before both girls started circling one particular table, until Erin leaped over it and up the stairs. As Amy ran after her, she caught sight of two familiar people watching. One was a disapproving Hermione, and the other was a confused looking Nick.

"Morning, Nick!" Amy shouted, as she ran past. "Sorry, Hermione!" Amy hurried after Erin to the girl's dormitory, but Erin got in first and locked the door.

Amy pounded uselessly against the door. "I swear, Erin, when I get in there, you are SO DEAD!"

"I'd say that's a fairly good reason not to let you in, then," came Erin's voice from the other side of the door.

Amy let out a moan of exasperation.

Back in the common room, people were still trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Right," announced Fred to whole room, "I guess Amy doesn't like to be woken up early in the morning by means of a pillow. We should probably all take note of that."

An hour and a half later, when they had sorted out what Nick now liked to refer to as the "Pillow Incident", he, Amy and Erin walked down to the Great Hall, all properly dressed, pillow free, and wearing red and gold scarves. They went to sit next to Harry and Ron, who were sitting with Hermione and Ginny, so that they could wish them good luck.

"Hey, Harry," smiled Amy, pulling a plate of bread towards her. "Hi, Ron. How are you two doing?"

"Hi, Amy," replied Harry, as Hermione and Ginny smiled at them. "Hey, Erin, Nick." Amy had found that, since joining the DA, she had gotten to know Harry's friends a lot better, and vice versa. "I'm fine, thanks. And Ron…Ron just needs some breakfast," added Harry determinedly.

"I'm sure you'll both do great," said Amy confidently. "I've heard Harry's a great flyer, and I know Ron's brothers are good at Quidditch, and Erin says it runs in families."

Erin nodded encouragingly.

"Nice pillow fight this morning," commented Ginny, looking at Amy and Erin. "The table-leaping really made it entertaining."

"Oh," said Amy, slightly embarrassed. "That. It was-"

"-_Very_ fun," Erin concluded for her. "Nick is now referring to it as the "Pillow Incident". I'm very glad you liked it."

Ginny laughed. So did Harry, Nick and, even through his daze, Ron. Hermione's lips even twitched upwards. Amy smiled.

Just then, a dreamy voice from behind them said, "Hello." They turned to see Luna Lovegood, who had come over from the Ravenclaw table. Amy had met and talked with her in some of the DA meetings. Although Luna was a little strange, Amy liked her.

On this particular day, Luna was wearing a hat shaped like a life-size lion's head. Several people were staring, or else pointing and laughing.

"I'm supporting Gryffindor," she said, pointing at her hat.

"I can see that," commented Nick.

Luna continued, unfazed. "Look what it does…"

She taped the hat with her wand, and the lion's head opened its mouth and gave a very realistic roar. Everyone jumped.

"It's good, isn't it?" said Luna, looking pleased.

"I love it!" exclaimed Erin excitedly.

"I wanted to have it chewing up a serpent to represent Slytherin, you know, but there wasn't time. Anyway…good luck, Ronald!" And with that she drifted away.

When Amy had recovered from the shock of seeing a life-size lion head roar, she turned to Harry and Ron. "Well, good luck, you two!"

"Yeah," chimed in Erin. "And try and win the game, won't you?"

"Always do," replied Harry.

When Nick had wished the boys good luck as well, he, Erin and Amy moved down the table, as to let them eat breakfast in peace. Well, that is, if Ron could eat at all, and from the look on his face, he couldn't. They had only just moved away when Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, Gryffindor Chasers and fellow members of the DA, ran into the Hall to rambunctious cheers and took their empty seats for a bit, before hurrying away again.

After a quick breakfast, Amy, Erin and Nick headed down across the lawns to the Quidditch pitch, so as to get good spots for watching the game.

"I've never seen a Quidditch match before," said Amy. "What's it like?"

"It's pretty cool," commented Nick.

"It's amazing!" corrected Erin, bouncing on the balls of her feet in sheer excitement. "It's the best game ever! And it's even _more_ fun to play than it is to watch!"

"Then I'd hate to see what you get like when you're actually playing," commented Nick dryly. Erin ignored him.

Soon the players were entering the changing rooms, and Amy waited with almost as much anticipation as Erin. Suddenly, someone passing in the row behind her bumped her to the side. She turned to see a Slytherin boy smirk at her before stalking off again. But that wasn't what unsettled her. No, what unsettled her was the badge he was wearing that caught her eye. It was shaped like a crown and read _Weasley is our King_.

"There is _no way_, that they can mean that in a good way," said Amy.

"Who can mean what in a not good way?" asked Erin.

"The Slytherins," answered Amy, checking around to see that she was right. She was: many other Slytherins were wearing the same badge. "They're wearing these badges that say _Weasley is our King_."

"Oh, oh," said Erin. "You're right; it's probably very, very bad. Especially if they're all smirking the way they are."

At that moment, the Gryffindor players came onto the pitch. The Captains shook hands, and then Madame Hooch blew the whistle, and with a sudden rush, the balls were released and fourteen brooms soared into the air.

Lee Jordan, Fred and George's friend, was commentating. "And it's Johnson – Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years, but she still won't go out with me-"

"JORDAN!" yelled Professor McGonagall.

Airborne commotion followed for the next few minutes. Chasers from both sides caught and dropped the ball; Bludgers were hit at players with or without impeccable aim. All the while, Harry circled above the game, searching for the Snitch, and Ron hovered next to goal posts, looking more nervous than ever.

And although Amy hardly knew the rules for the game, and sometimes could only see the players as blurs, she stayed the entire time perched on the edge of her seat, exactly like Erin, cheering and clapping with the rest of the crowd, completely immersed in the excitement of the game. Beside the over-enthusiastic girls, Nick watched the game with a little less interest.

"- dodges Warrington, avoids a Bludger – close call, Alicia," continued Lee. "-And the crowd are just loving this, just listen to them, what's that they're singing?"

As Lee paused to listen, Amy heard it too; a loud, clear song was rising from the silver and green clad Slytherin section.

"_Weasley cannot save a thing,_

_He cannot block a single ring,_

_That's why Slytherins all sing:_

_Weasley is our King._

_Weasley was born in a bin,_

_He always lets the Quaffle in,_

_Weasley will make sure we win,_

_Weasley is our King_."

"- And Alicia passes back to Angelina!" shouted Lee, trying valiantly to block out the song.

"I knew it!" shouted Amy. "I knew they were up to something awful!"

She and Erin both stuck their fingers in their ears as they continued to watch the match. In the midst of all the chaos on the pitch, Gryffindor tried and failed to score once, before continuing their battle for the Quaffle. And then Slytherin had it, and were going towards the goal posts…

"Come on, Ron," muttered Erin. "Come, on, you can do it…"

"Slytherin score!" announced Lee, as the Gryffindors moaned and the Slytherins momentarily stopped their singing to cheer. "So that's ten-nil to Slytherin – bad luck, Ron."

The Slytherins started singing louder.

"_WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN_

_HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN_…"

The Gryffindor crowd endured several more minutes of singing before Slytherin scored again.

"Come on, Ron!" yelled Amy. "Don't let them get to you!"

"You _are_ fully aware that he can't hear you, aren't you?" inquired Nick.

"Oh, shut up," snapped Amy.

"Oh, I hate this!" moaned Erin. "We're losing and there's nothing I can do to help!"

Soon, however, Gryffindor scored, and Nick was spared more of the girl's grumbling as they cheered.

Finally, they heard Erin gasp and shout, "Look at Harry!"

Amy and Nick looked; Harry and Malfoy were both diving for the Snitch.

"Oooh, get it, get it, get it!" Erin squealed.

And a heart-stopping few seconds later, Harry caught it. Amy, Erin and Nick cheered with the rest of the Gryffindors. It was okay if Ron hadn't yet saved a goal; they had won the match anyway, and that would surely put a stop to the Slytherin's stupid song…

"So, how did you like seeing your first Quidditch match?" asked Erin excitedly.

"I was actually under the impression that she really enjoyed it," commented Nick, rolling his eyes.

"It was awesome!" replied Amy enthusiastically, ignoring Nick. "Are students who aren't on the team aloud to come down to the pitch to play small games sometimes or anything? I'd like to learn how to play!"

"We can ask McGonagall about it," answered Erin, looking just as enthusiastic about this new idea.

"Say, Amy," said Nick, interrupting them. "Isn't that Malfoy, Slytherin's Seeker, down there, with Harry?"

Amy squinted to see. "Oh, my gosh, it is!" cried Amy. "I wonder what-"

But before she could finish her sentence, the answer to her question became apparent: Harry, along with George, had just tackled Malfoy. All three Gryffindor Chasers were retraining Fred.

"Oh, dear," said Erin.

"Should we do something?" asked Amy nervously.

"I don't think we can," replied Nick.

As they watched, Madame Hooch came over and broke up the fight. A minute later Harry and George walked off the pitch; they must have been sent to Professor McGonagall's office.

"What's going on?" asked Amy. "Do you think they're okay?"

"They seem to be," answered Nick.

"What's going to happen to them now?" whispered Amy.

"I don't know," came Erin's reply. "Come on," she said, taking Amy's arm. "There's nothing you can do. We'd better get back to the common room. We can wait for Harry there and find out what happened."

Erin dragged Amy through the crowd now filing out of the stadium, with Nick following close behind. They hurried to Gryffindor Tower, where students were walking around and whispering to each other, wondering what was happening to Harry and George, and whether or not they should start a party to celebrate their victory anyway. Fred was sitting by the fire with the rest of the team, a sour expression on his face. Hermione sat farther away from the team, looking anxious, for Ron had not returned from the match yet, either.

It seemed like forever to Amy, sitting on the edge on a squashy armchair by the window, until Harry came back. She wanted to know what was happening, to talk to him, to find out why he had attacked Malfoy. Erin and Nick sat beside her in edgy silence, glancing at her from time to time.

Finally, the portrait hole opened and Harry and George walked through. The entire common room stopped to watch as they made their way to sit with the rest of the team. Everyone could tell from the look on their faces that they did not bring happy news.

"Well," said George bitterly, sitting down next to his teammates and Harry doing the same. "We've got a life-long ban from Quidditch. Fred too. Umbridge got some other stupid Educational Decree from the Minister giving her the power to override the teachers and give severe punishments, so…" He didn't seem to care that everyone in the entire common room was listening to him.

Amy's breath caught. Harry was banned from Quidditch _for life_. Fred and George had been, too. She would never be able to see them play again, or win another game. She had even been hoping that they might one day help teach her to play on the pitch, but all that was ruined, now. And Harry _loved_ Quidditch. How could Umbridge not let him play? She felt the need to sit down, only to remember that she was _already_ sitting down.

Nick looked at Amy and Erin anxiously. "Are you two okay?" he asked them. "I mean, I'm shocked and upset and all that, but Erin, you're really pale, and Amy…"

"I'm already sitting down," she mumbled.

"I'm fine," Erin said numbly to a very confused Nick. None of them said anything after that.

After a while, Angelina went up to bed, and the rest of the team, save Harry, followed, as well as Ginny. Amy just kept watching the Snitch that Harry had accidentally stolen zoom around the room.

Amy heard Nick give a depressed sigh. "It doesn't feel like we won at all," he commented. Amy knew exactly how he felt.

Just as Amy was about to go to bed, Ron came in through the portrait hole, stopping when he saw Harry and Hermione. Hermione said something, but Amy wasn't listening. Ron had already been sitting by the fire with Harry and Hermione for quite a while before Amy decided to go over to them. Erin and Nick followed her cautiously.

"Hey," she said carefully when she reached them. "How're you guys doing?"

"Horrible," replied Ron. "Dreadful. Harry's banned from Quidditch and I'm terrible at it."

"You are not!" snapped Harry, as though they were continuing a previous argument.

Ron looked too worn out to argue back.

"Well," said Amy. "You're right, this does suck. A lot. But at least I can think of one good thing that came from this."

"Oh really?" said Harry sceptically, "And what's that?"

"Well, I've decided that I absolutely love Quidditch and that it's the best game in the world."

They were all silent for a moment, and then Harry looked up at her.

"You know, you're right. That is a good thing. Especially since, from what I've heard, you're quite the flier."

"Your sources might be slightly faulty," she informed him, glaring at Erin and Nick.

Nick looked slightly embarrassed, but Erin said unashamedly, "No they weren't, you're absolutely brilliant!"

"Well, I've got a bit of advice for you," said Harry.

"What's that?" asked Amy.

"If you ever make the Quidditch team, don't punch anyone on the opposing team."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Fifteen minutes later found Amy and Erin in their dormitory having a furious pillow fight. Erin had started it to make them both feel better, and needless to say, it had worked. During the fight, both girls momentarily forgot about Quidditch completely and concentrated solely on aiming their pillow just right. A few minutes later, René and Cary came up to the dormitory. They looked at the pair of shrieking girls for a few seconds, and then René shrugged and grabbed a pillow. Cary thought for a moment, and then grabbed two. Soon all four Gryffindor girls were leaping over beds, tossing pillows and bringing them down on each other's backs.

Near the window, Amy stopped for a second and looked over the grounds. There were lights coming from the cabin at the edge of the forest that was usually empty, and smoke was coming out the chimney.

"Hey, Erin," said Amy, stopping the girl mid-swing. "Come over and look at this."

Erin looked out the window.

"That's Hagrid's hut, isn't it?" asked Amy.

"Yeah," replied Erin. "I'm pretty sure it is."

"So he's back from wherever he went?"

"I guess so."

"I wonder where he went? And why would he come back at night? Does he not want to attract too much attention to himself?" wondered Amy.

"I don't know."

They were silent for a while. Amy was lost in thought. Where had Hagrid gone? She knew he was very loyal to Dumbledore, so had he maybe been doing something for him? Why was he back so late into the year? Had he been doing something dangerous?

Amy was so transfixed by the lights coming from Hagrid's cabin that she didn't notice a very short girl advancing on her.

"Hey!" she shouted, whirling around as Erin brought a particularly lumpy pillow down on her head.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Wow, my longest chapter yet. Cool! Okay, the pillow fight might have been kind of random, but I like it; it was very fun to write. Oh! I got Exceeds Expectations on my W.O.M.B.A.T. Grade 1 test! Yay! I'm very happy (for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, it's something on please review! I know I ask you every chapter, but it's my duty! Well, maybe not…but oh, well. Please review; it really helps me!


	13. Snake Attack

A/N: Hello, everyone, and thank you to all those who reviewed. Why am I so un-hyper right now? Well, lets just say I'm tired, and I can't find any sugary food in the house.

Disclaimer: You can't sue me, because I don't own Harry Potter and I know it. If I _did_ own Harry Potter, _I_ could sue _you_. Oh, believe me, if I wanted to, I could find a way…

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to 9boxesofpenguins. She beta'd. Thanks!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 13: Snake Attack

"Amy, are you alive?"

Amy jumped and turned to see Erin looking closely at her. "Oh, of course I'm alive."

"Well, you weren't moving," said Erin. "Are you okay? You looked like you were thinking about something other than Astronomy homework. And that's generally not a good thing."

Nick, who was also sitting with them by the fire on this particular evening, rolled his eyes as Amy flicked Erin's forehead in annoyance.

"I was just – just thinking about…about Christmas, I guess…"

"Well, that does make sense," said Erin cheerily, "As it's almost here."

It was true that Christmas was just around the corner; snow covered the ground around the castle, Amy and her friends had already engaged themselves in several snowball fights, decorations were starting to appear in the hallways, and the holidays would start soon. But despite all this, Amy still didn't feel like Christmas was coming. Things were just going to be so…._different_ this year. It would be kind of uncomfortable to be at home…assuming she _could_ go home.

That was what was really bothering Amy the most. She knew her mother was still very angry with her, and neither of them had kept in contact since the letter Amy had gotten in which her mother called Hogwarts a freak school, something which Amy refused to let go. What really worried her, though, was that her mother might not let her go home at all.

"Where…where are you guys going for Christmas?" Amy asked her friends tentatively.

They looked up.

"Well, I was planning to go home," Erin replied carefully, knowing where this conversation was going. "But I can stay at Hogwarts if I want to…my brothers did it sometimes."

"My plans are pretty much the same," said Nick casually. "But I'm sure I wouldn't be missed at home if I decided to stay."

Amy felt a sudden pang of guilt; she had forgot that Nick was not on very good terms with the rest of his family.

"What about you?" asked Erin tentatively.

"I…I want to go home, but…"

"But you're not sure if you and your mother are on good enough terms right now," Erin finished for her.

"Actually, I was kind of wondering if she would even let me come for Christmas," stated Amy gloomily.

"I'm sure she will," Erin comforted her, smiling.

"Why don't you send a letter to Tomas and ask him?" suggested Nick.

"That's a good idea!" exclaimed Amy, dropping her quill and standing up. "I'll go do that now!"

"What about your Astronomy essay?" asked Nick.

"Oh, I'm almost done, I can finish it later," replied Amy, running across the common room.

"Don't forget about the Disastrous Announcement in half an hour!" called Erin. She claimed that "the DA" sounded too much like an organisation, and therefore came up with words staring with the letters "D" and "A" whenever she had to refer to it.

Amy caught a glimpse of Nick rolling his eyes before she hurried up the stairs.

Fifteen minutes later she was nervously tying a letter to Tawny's leg. "Bring back good news, okay?" she told the owl, before letting her soar through the open window. Then she turned around and started down the stairs, hoping they wouldn't be late for the last DA meeting before the holidays.

Amy, Erin, Nick, René, Cary and Lawrence entered the Room of Requirement to find that it was decorated for Christmas. Harry, Luna, Angelina, Alicia and Katie were already there.

"Hi," said Harry as they walked forward.

Nick and Lawrence went over to talk to Harry (they had a question about the Impediment Jinx they wanted to ask him), while René and Cary chatted merrily in a corner. Amy started to go over to a bookshelf, but Erin threw out an arm to stop her.

"What?" she asked, looking down at her friend.

"Look up," Erin whispered.

Amy did. All along the ceiling, at random intervals, hung bunches of mistletoe.

"Oh, oh," said Amy. "We wouldn't want to accidentally get caught under one of those."

"Exactly," replied Erin. She looked around. "I think I see a clear patch, over there. If we run, we can avoid standing under one at all."

"Okay," said Amy. The girls clasped hands. "Go!"

With that they ran past everyone else clustered around the doorway and to the other side of the room, where they came to a quick halt and looked up.

"Made it," confirmed Erin. On the other side of the room, Amy could see Nick shaking his head, which he often did when the girls did something like this. It was just their way of having fun.

"Hey, Amy," called Angelina. "Guess who we got as a replacement to play Seeker?"

"I don't know," Amy called back. "But you're going to have to come over here!"

"Why?" asked Alicia.

"Because this is the only large space without mistletoe in the entire room!" exclaimed Erin.

The three Gryffindor Chasers came over, laughing.

"You two are ridiculous, you know that?" said Katie, chuckling.

"Of course we do," replied Erin. "Who's your new Seeker, anyway?"

"Ginny Weasley," answered Alicia.

"Really?" asked Amy, surprised.

"Yeah, she's actually pretty good," replied Angelina.

"Cool!" exclaimed Erin.

"OK," called Harry, and they all stopped talking to listen. "I thought this evening we should just go over the things we've done so far, because it's the last meeting before the holidays and there's no point starting anything new right before a three-week break-"

There was an interruption from Zacharias Smith at this, but he was hurriedly silenced by Fred and George.

"- we can practice in pairs," continued Harry. "We'll start with the Impediment Jinx, for ten minutes, then we can get out the cushions and try stunning again."

They all did as he had instructed. Soon the room was filled with yells as people shouted "Impedimenta!". Amy could tell how good everyone was getting because the number of accidents in the first few minutes was almost none. Amy and Erin practiced together, each getting the jinx right every time, except for a small incident where they both went at the same time and Amy ended up jinxing René.

Next they grabbed some cushions and practiced stunning. After a while, Amy's back was getting sore from hitting the ground so many times, and she found herself getting a little bit jealous of how Erin could always land on the pillows, whereas she kept missing.

Harry called them to a halt after an hour.

"You're getting really good," he said, smiling at them. "When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff – maybe even Patronuses."

A murmur of excitement went around the room, once again reminding Amy how much younger she was than most of the people here; she had no clue what a Patronus was.

"Hey, Harry," said Amy, stopping on her way to the door. "You know Hagrid, right?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Hagrid's my friend."

Amy nodded. "I noticed that he came back recently, and it seems weird to me that he would come back in the middle of the night. Do you know where he went?"

"No," said Harry.

In Amy's opinion he said it much too quickly, but she only nodded and said, "Okay. But…is he – is he okay and everything?" she asked. It was something that had been worrying her lately.

"He's fine," answered Harry. "Don't worry. He wants to meet you though, seeing as you're my distant cousin and all."

"Okay," said Amy. "That'd be good. Good lesson, by the way."

"Thanks," replied Harry, as Amy waved goodbye and headed once more for the door.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Later that night, Amy was tossing and turning in her sleep. She was having another one of her dreams. Erin, who was a light sleeper and who had woken up because of the noise Amy was making, now sat on her bad and looked over at her friend worriedly.

In her dream, Amy saw a dark, long corridor as though she was walking along it. A snake, a huge, thick, horrible-looking snake slithered on the ground in front of her. She tried to back away, but she couldn't move. The snake started around a corner, but then movement in front of the door at the end of the hallway caught its attention. A tall, balding man with a small amount of red hair still left on his head scrambled to his feet, seeming to appear out of nowhere. The man snatched his wand out of his robes and raised it…but the snake was faster, and struck the man in the side with its teeth, over and over again. Amy screamed from where she stood as blood flew everywhere, soaking the man's robes and pooling on the floor.

"Amy!"

"What on earth-"

Amy woke up screaming, and sat bolt upright, breathing heavily. Erin sat beside her on the bed, looking scared. René stood next to her, looking equally frightened. Then Cary came forward and looked steadily at her.

"Amy," she said calmly, "What's wrong?"

Amy tried to calm down, and tried to catch her breath, which was proving very difficult at the moment.

"I – I'm okay, I just…I had a bad dream."

"Must've been a wicked bad dream if you were yelling that much," observed René.

"It was," Amy chocked out. "I think – I think something's wrong. I – I need to talk to Harry."

"What? At this time of night? He'll be asleep!" said Erin, looking paler than usual.

"Why do you need to see Harry, Amy?" Cary pressed her calmly. Amy looked her straight in the eye and felt a little better; Cary's calming silvery grey eyes had that affect. Just the fact that there was someone next to her who wasn't panicking helped Amy pull herself together.

She took a deep breath. "I think something might be wrong," she explained to the girls around her bed. "It might involve Harry."

René looked bewildered. Cary's expression didn't change from the passive sensible one she had worn through the whole conversation. Erin, on the other hand, looked as if a light bulb had lit up in her head, as if she suddenly understood.

"Come on," she said, helping Amy up. "Put on your robes, we're going to see Dumbledore."

"What?" exclaimed Amy.

"You heard me," said Erin clearly. "Come on, hurry up."

Amy did as she was told. Soon she and Erin were walking quickly through the corridors, not caring what time it was, or if they were caught by a teacher or prefect, on their way to the Headmaster's office.

They were almost at Dumbledore's office when a high-pitched voice screeched, "Halt!" in a commanding tone. A toad-like figure waddled towards them from down the shadowed corridor.

"Hello Professor Umbridge," Erin said dryly.

"And what, my I ask, are you two doing, wandering the halls at this time of night?" Umbridge said in her high-pitched girly voice.

"We're going to see the Headmaster," said Erin calmly. "It's urgent."

Umbridge looked beadily down at them, surveying them both before saying, "That is no reason to be walking around at night. Nothing gives you permission to do that. As for your "urgent matter"…I can deal with that."

Amy started to protest, but Erin spoke over her, her voice still painfully calm. "I'm sorry, but we need to speak to the _Headmaster_ right away."

Umbridge glared at them. "As High Inquisitor of Hogwarts," she began, but was interrupted by a tall figure moving swiftly towards them.

"Dolores, what are you…" Professor McGonagall started to ask, but then she caught sight of Amy and Erin. "Miss Evans, Miss Waters, why are you out at this time of night?" She pursed her lips; they were so thin that the girls knew she was mad enough to give them detention for the next month.

"We need to see Professor Dumbledore. It's urgent," burst out Amy, seizing her chance.

Professor McGonagall's eyes widened slightly for a second, and then she said briskly, "Certainly, Miss Evans, Miss Waters. Please come with me."

Umbridge spoke up. "I would also like to see the Headmaster, Professor. I have reason to believe that a certain Mr. Potter, along with his friends, Miss Ginny Weasley, Mr. Ronald Weasley and Misters Fred and George Weasley are all out of their beds."

"That is correct," replied Professor McGonagall. "Those students are leaving tonight and have received permission to be excused from the remaining school days left until the holidays, due to a short visit from a relative in Romania."

Professor Umbridge frowned. "Harry is not related to the Weasleys," she stated suspiciously.

"No," said Professor McGonagall, "But he is an important family friend, and has therefore returned to their home with them." Although she could tell Umbridge believed this story, Amy certainly didn't. "And I'm sorry, Professor Umbridge, but the Headmaster has other things to deal with at the moment. He will talk to you in the morning."

"Then what makes you so sure he will have time for two troublesome students who are walking about the halls at night and making trouble?" asked Umbridge sceptically.

"I assure you that these students will be dealt with, but Miss Evans seems rather frightened at the moment, and I think it best that we grant her request. Now, if you'll excuse me, Professor, the Headmaster needs to see me."

With that, Professor McGonagall stalked off, and Amy and Erin, shooting confused looks at Umbridge, followed close behind. Amy barely had time to take in what Umbridge had said and wonder where Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George were before the Transfiguration teacher stopped before the stone gargoyle.

When Professor McGonagall opened the door and led them in the room, it was to see Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, looking troubled. He looked up as they walked in.

"Ah, Professor McGonagall," he said, standing. "Did you have any trouble with Professor Umbridge?"

"No professor," she replied. "But I told her you would speak with her in the morning. She's very suspicious as to the circumstances of Potter and the Weasley's departure."

Dumbledore nodded. "And now…Miss Evans, Miss Waters…what are you doing up this late at night?" The question was not accusatory, merely genuinely curious.

"I found them in the corridor," Professor McGonagall answered for them. "They requested to see you, saying it was urgent."

Dumbledore nodded once more. "Thank you, Minerva. You may go; I will speak with Miss Evans and Miss Waters."

McGonagall nodded curtly and left.

"Please sit down," Dumbledore told Amy and Erin, who hesitated for a second, and then sat down in chairs in front of his desk. Amy could tell that Erin was looking around the office, taking in all the paintings and spindly tables. Amy could not believe that she had only been at Hogwarts four months and already she had been to the Headmaster's office twice.

"Sir, can I ask you a question?" asked Amy.

"You already have," said Dumbledore, smiling. "But you may, of course, ask as many as you like."

"Er," said Amy. "Thank you. Um, sir, what happened tonight? Where are Harry and the Weasleys?"

"They are in London. They took a portkey from my office a few minutes before you arrived."

"Why, sir?" asked Amy.

Dumbledore looked at them calmly, pressing his fingers together and setting his hands on his desk. "They had to depart, because Mr. Arthur Weasley was attacked by a giant snake in the middle of the night."

"What?" exclaimed Erin.

"How?" questioned Amy urgently.

"He was at the Ministry of Magic when he was attacked." When both girls looked as if they were about to outburst again, he said calmly, "Please don't worry. We found him and got him to St. Mungo's hospital right away. Harry and the Weasleys will stay in London for the holidays."

"Are they all okay?" said Amy, still worried despite Dumbledore's words of comfort.

"Yes," replied the Headmaster. "Aside from being extremely worried, and, I suspect, very tired, they are all perfectly alright."

Erin sighed with relief, but something still bothered Amy. "Sir," she began, "How did you know that the attack had happened? And why would Harry go with the Weasleys to London?"

"As Harry was involved in this, I thought it best that he leave Hogwarts early as well," answered Dumbledore, ignoring her first question.

"Sir," Amy continued. "If you don't mind me asking, how was he involved?"

"Ah," said Dumbledore. "Unfortunately, that is a very complicated matter."

"Did he…" Amy hesitated. "Did he have a – I don't know, a…a dream of some sort?"

Startled, Erin looked sharply at her. The Headmaster's gaze on her seemed more intense.

"What do you mean, Miss Evans?" he asked politely.

"Well," she started, suddenly intent on fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve, "I sort of had one too…about the attack."

This time it was Dumbledore's gaze that was sharp. Beside Amy, Erin's voice sounded nervous. "That's actually why we came to see you, sir. Amy had a…well, a bad dream, but it was more than that…she seemed really frightened, and she kept asking about Harry."

Amy looked over at her friend. "I _am_ still in the room, you know."

"Miss Evans," began the Headmaster, bringing her thoughts back to the situation at hand, "You say you had a dream about the attack?"

"I – I think so, sir," she replied, suddenly feeling a bit uncertain. Why was this all so confusing? Why couldn't things just be clear and easy to figure out for once? "I had a dream about a long corridor with a door at the end, and there was a giant snake, and then a tall man appeared out of nowhere and the snake bit him and…" Amy stopped, not wanting to relive the blood and screaming.

"And you thought Harry was somehow related to this?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, sir, although I'm not sure why…he wasn't in my dream at all, I just…I just knew that he was involved in some way."

"And you knew that this was not just an ordinary nightmare?" pressed Dumbledore gently.

"Yes," replied Amy. "It wasn't just that it seemed real it was that…I don't know…It was just a really strong feeling."

"And no mere nightmare could have had her screaming like that," added Erin.

"Have you had other dreams alike this one?" asked Dumbledore.

"Sort of," answered Amy, getting tired of all these questions. "I've had dreams about the same corridor and about the door…I always feel like someone wants to open the door really, really badly, but that it would be very bad if they did…But there's never been a snake before," she added, confused.

"Have these dreams had any affect on you or others?"

"Only that I was a little more tired in morning, until tonight," answered Amy, feeling more and more unnerved. What was wrong? Why exactly did these dreams matter? And what about tonight? Had her dream just magically come true or something?

Dumbledore sighed. "If you continue to have these dreams, or have another one that is different than just the corridor, please report it to me immediately."

"Yes, sir," replied Amy, getting more nervous still.

"Thank you both for coming and telling me this," said Dumbledore. "And now, I think that it's high time you both went back to bed. You have classes in the morning, after all."

"Yes, sir," mumbled both girls as they stood up.

Dumbledore led them to the door and opened it for them, but Amy stopped before going through. "Sir," she said. "You never answered my question. Did Harry have a dream like mine? Is that how you knew Mr. Weasley was hurt?"

Dumbledore smiled. "I'm afraid that, Miss Evans, is a question for Harry himself to answer."

She nodded. "Okay."

"Oh," said Dumbledore, stopping them as they walked through the door. "It would probably be best if you didn't tell anyone of the night's events."

They nodded. "What about Hermione?" asked Amy.

"Ah, yes," replied Dumbledore, "It would be good if you could tell Miss Granger, as I expect she will be quite worried upon finding that her best friends are missing."

Amy nodded again. "Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight, Miss Evans."

But even though Dumbledore was right in saying they had classes next morning, Amy found that she couldn't – and didn't want to – sleep. There were too many questions about Harry and what Dumbledore had said running through her mind. There was also the ever-constant worrying about Mr. Weasley, and the rest of the Weasleys and Harry. Plus, Dumbledore had seemed worried about her dreams. What if she had another one, and someone else got hurt?

Amy sighed as she rolled over, trying to get comfortable. "Goodnight," she muttered, "Yeah, right…"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"You _what_?"

Amy, Erin and Nick were sitting in the common room early the next morning. The girls had just finished explaining the previous night's events to Nick, who was simply shocked that he had been completely unaware of Amy's odd dreams.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this?" he demanded.

"We didn't think it was worth mentioning," explained Amy.

"Well, you were wrong, weren't you? Look at what happened last night!"

"Which is why we're telling you now," said a thoroughly exasperated Erin.

"So what does Dumbledore reckon they mean?" asked Nick.

"We don't know," replied Amy, putting her head in her hands. "He didn't say."

"And Harry might have had a similar dream?"

"Maybe," answered Erin, closing her eyes patiently. "We have to wait for a chance to talk to Harry to be sure of anything."

"So, now what?"

"There is no "now what" Nick!" exclaimed Amy. "We don't do anything until we can talk to Harry. There's nothing _to_ do! If I have another dream, I'll tell Dumbledore, and that's all there is to it."

"But don't you wonder about it?" asked Nick quietly.

"Of course we do!" replied Erin, filling in for Amy. "But we don't know enough to come to any solid conclusions."

"You sound like a detective," muttered Nick.

For a while they were silent, and then Nick cautiously opened his mouth once more. "Do you think that it was kind of like a vision?" he asked them. "Like that dream you had about Hogwarts before you knew you were a witch, Amy. Do you think maybe you're kind of like a Seer?"

"Yes," said Erin tiredly, but Amy exclaimed "_What_?"

"Well, it makes sense," replied Erin, finally sitting up and opening her eyes. "I mean, you had a dream about something that actually happened. Seems like a vision to me."

"But I'm not a _Seer_," protested Amy.

"No," agreed Erin. "Maybe not a Seer, maybe you have some sort of powers concerning Divination."

"But-" argued Amy.

"She's right," said Nick. "If you're having visions about real things, it might be something like that. But if Harry had a dream too…well, then it might be a little more complicated."

"Exactly," stated Amy.

"Either way," said Erin, "We have to wait to talk to Harry to find out more. In the meantime, we'll keep on the lookout, and try to cheer up. It's almost the holidays for gosh sakes!"

Amy sighed. "You're right."

Just then she saw Hermione, who had obviously just gotten back from breakfast, come through the portrait hole. Hermione's eyes did a sweep of the room, and she looked disappointed. Then she spotted Amy and hurried over.

"Hey, you three," she said to them.

"Hey," replied Amy as Erin smiled and Nick nodded.

"I was just wondering…have any of you seen Harry or Ron this morning?" Hermione asked. "Or even Ginny, Fred or George, for that matter…"

The three friends exchanged brief glances before Amy turned back to Hermione and said quietly, "They – er, they left for the holidays early."

Hermione looked startled. "Why?" she asked.

"Well, er, Mr. Weasley kind of got, um….well, he was attacked by a giant snake," Amy replied softly.

"Oh!" Hermione gasped. "So that's what it was talking about!" She pulled a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ out of her bag and thrust it at them. There was an article on the front page that told of an attack at the Ministry in the early hours of the morning. "I had no idea it was Mr. Weasley," continued Hermione, sounding shocked. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I – ah, we…we don't really know at this point," answered Amy truthfully.

"But Dumbledore told us not to worry," Erin reassured her quickly.

Hermione nodded, looking just as frightened as Amy felt. "But – how…when did you talk to Dumbledore about this?"

"Uh…last night," replied Amy, looking intently at her hands.

"But how did you know it was happening?" asked the prefect. "And how come Harry left early as well?"

Amy winced; she had been afraid of this. "Well, we're not exactly sure, but…" And she told Hermione about her dream, and how they thought Harry had also had a dream, and how they couldn't know anything more without talking to Harry. "But you shouldn't tell anyone else."

"Oh, yes…yes of course," replied Hermione, looking as if her mind was elsewhere. "Do you….did Dumbledore say where they went?"

"Er – yes…they're in London," said Amy softly.

Hermione nodded. "Yes…yes, that would make sense," she muttered, seemingly talking to herself. "Well, you…you three take care and – and be careful and everything…I'll try and talk to Harry over the holidays. Perhaps we'll owl you or something."

"That would be good," murmured Amy.

Hermione nodded. "Okay, so…I'll see you three later, okay?"

They nodded as Hermione walked back across the common room towards the girl's dormitories, muttering to herself.

"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder…" muttered Erin, voicing Amy's thoughts.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Yay! Sugar! I just had a lot of it. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. It's the longest yet! They just keep getting longer…

Now….REVIEW! Ha, now you'll feel guilty if you don't. Right?…Right? Oh, whatever, just review, please. It helps me write better and faster!


	14. Pillow Fights at Christmas

A/N: Hi everyone! Wow, over 70 reviews…you guys are beyond awesome! Plus, I've only just realized that it's been over a year since I started writing this. Happy Birthday, fic! Of course, that year includes the almost 9 month period between chapters 2 and 3 in which I did not update at all…::hangs head guiltily::

Disclaimer: I am seriously running out of funny ways to say I don't own Harry Potter. I really mean it. Don't look at me like that! Why would I lie to you?

Dedication: Dedicated to all my friends for getting me presents and cards for my birthday even when I told them not to.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 14: Pillow Fights at Christmas

When Amy, Erin and Nick went down to breakfast, it was to find that most people didn't know that anything bad had happened to anybody. Sure, there were some people who read the small article at the bottom corner of the front page of the Prophet, but they didn't seem worried about it; the article had not mentioned who was attacked, and as almost no one thought Voldemort was back, this was generally very easily disregarded.

Amy, however, found that she had absolutely no appetite for the bacon and eggs in front of her. Her insides kept squirming with worry, she jumped at the slightest noise, and she was sure that there were dark circles under her eyes, marking her lack of recent sleep. Hermione, who was sitting a little way down the table, looked as though she felt very similar to Amy.

When the mail came, Amy was surprised to see Tawny flying towards her.

"What on earth are you doing here?" she asked the owl. Then it came to her. All of last night's events had completely shoved the memory of sending a letter to Tomas out of her head. "Oh, right. I remember now," she said, almost to herself. "Gee, you sure made that journey fast, didn't you?"

Tawny hooted, and Amy was suddenly nervous. What would the letter say?

"Is that Tomas's reply?" asked Nick, and Amy nodded, feeling num. Her friends continued to look on worriedly as she took a deep breath and ripped the letter open.

_Hey Amy!_

_Okay, here goes. I'm not going to sugar coat it, all right? I hope you're having a good time at Hogwarts, because it looks like you're staying there. Don't get me wrong; _I_ want you to come home. It really won't be the same without you! But I think if you come back mum'll blow a fuse. She nearly did just hearing that you wanted to come back for the holidays._

_Yep, it really sucks. But I'll send you a Christmas letter and everything. Don't worry, it'll be okay, mum just needs a bit more time to cool down. Plus, I mean, trapped in a magic castle for Christmas? How bad can that really be? I hate to admit it, but I'm actually kind of jealous._

_Hope to hear from you soon,_

_Tomas_

_P.S. You know you still have to buy me a Christmas present, right?_

Amy just sat there, still feeling num. She guessed that shock and sleep deprivation were not a good mix, as they seemed to have resulted in her not being able to care about anything at the moment. The only things that vaguely registered in her mind were that she could not go home yet and that Tomas had tried to make her feel better about it. That was nice of him. She sighed and turned to her owl. "I thought I told you to bring _good _news," she said without expression.

She heard her friends groan beside her and tossed them the letter before turning back to her bacon, and trying to remember why she felt no desire to eat.

"So," said Erin when she had finished reading the letter, "Can I borrow Tawny? I need to owl my family."

"Oh, right, me too," said Nick thoughtfully. "But I guess I'll get a school owl, if Erin is using yours."

"Wha – what for?" asked Amy, startled into feeling shaken again. Or, at least, a bit.

"To tell our families that we're staying here for Christmas, of course," replied Erin, as though this should have been obvious.

"Again, what?" stuttered Amy.

"Oh, come on," said Nick, laughing a little. "You didn't think we'd leave you here alone for Christmas, did you?"

"Oh!" exclaimed Amy, suddenly understanding and feeling flustered. Why was that? Couldn't she keep calm for just five seconds? "But you – you guys don't have to-"

"Yes, we do," stated Erin with such finality that Amy didn't dare contradict her.

After a few moments, Amy sighed. "Well, um…thanks, you guys…it really means a lot to me."

"No problem," chirped Erin, once more her cheerful self. Or, as cheerful as she could get, considering the circumstances.

And what Amy had said was true: that her friends would decide to stay at Hogwarts with her over Christmas just like that made her feel like maybe there was a place for her in the magical world after all, a fact that she had been doubting a bit ever since she found out about Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

But there was still something bothering Amy: Tara. Hadn't she promised her best friend that she would spend every available moment with her during the holidays? Hadn't Tara asked her to come over for half the holidays in her last letter? Sure, Amy thought she could come up with an excuse not to go this time, but what about during the summer? What about next year?

And as resentful as Amy was towards her mother, as much as she convinced herself that she didn't care how long her mother kept her from home because of what her mother had said, she could not convince herself that Tara would not be a problem. She didn't want to think that, but how would she be able to visit her if she wasn't allowed to go back home?

"Amy?"

"Yeah?" she said, turning to see that it was Erin who was speaking to her.

"I've said "we need to get to class" three times, but you've only just heard," replied the brunette.

"Oh, sorry," Amy mumbled, gathering her things together and following Erin and Nick out of the Great Hall.

"That is perfectly all right," said Erin in an annoying voice. "I understand that people sometimes can't hear properly when they're not paying attention."

Amy managed a smile and shoved her friend good-naturedly to the side.

Soon, the holidays had arrived, and everyone (literally, almost _everyone_) boarded the Hogwarts Express to go home. Hermione had stopped to say goodbye and wish them a happy Christmas before she left, ending their farewell with a word (or quite a few words, actually) of caution, as she always seemed to do since the night of the attack.

As Amy watched René, Cary, and their other friends leave, she felt kind of lonely, which, of course, she knew she shouldn't, considering Erin and Nick were staying with her. Nick also seemed kind of down. Erin, on the other hand, seemed almost giddy with the prospect of Christmas, and kept making references to the "Departing Affair". Well, that was Erin.

And so Saturday morning found all three friends in the common room; Nick was reading, Amy was doing nothing, and Erin was trying to get them to do _something_. Although, Amy had to admit to herself, she didn't really feel like doing anything just now. She would much rather stay here and pity herself against her better judgement.

"Chess?" suggested Erin.

Both Amy and Nick shook their heads.

"Quidditch?"

No answer.

"Oh, come on. You guys are no fun. It's _Christmas_, for goodness sakes! Cheer up!"

When she again got no response, she threw a pillow at Amy. "Pillow fight?" she asked hopefully.

And before she could stop herself, Amy found that a grin was slowly spreading across her face, and a few moments later both girls were swinging their pillows furiously, Nick ducking for cover.

They spent the time leading up until Christmas talking and playing chess, Gobstones, Exploding Snap, and every other magical game they could think of by the fire, running through the empty halls despite the Professors' warnings, raiding the kitchens (Erin had overheard Fred and George talking about where it was, and all three of them had declined Hermione's offer to join spew, no, wait, S.P.E.W., because they thought it best not to get involved in something so controversial) and, although Madame Pince was not particularly found of it, seeing how high a tower they could make by pilling books on top of one another in the Library. They also found time to play a game of Quidditch, which Amy had loved despite the fact that the game was somewhat limited with only three players.

Amy did not, as she had anticipated, wake up peacefully and blissfully warm on Christmas Day. No, when one shared a dorm room with Erin Waters, that sort of thing just did not happen. Instead, she woke up once again to a pillow coming down on her head.

"Ah, Erin," she groaned. "If you're not going to let me sleep, can't you at least come up with a more original way to wake me up?"

"Well," replied the petite girl, "This may shock and surprise you, but it is extremely difficult to find a foghorn at four in the morning."

"Four in the morning?" Amy asked.

Erin nodded, her characteristic grin plastered on her face.

"I'm shocked _and_ surprised," replied Amy into her pillow.

"Happy Christmas!"

Amy grinned in spite of herself and sat up to face her friend. Her friend that had stayed at Hogwarts just for her, just so that she could smile on Christmas. So, not knowing how to express her gratitude, she simply granted Erin's wish by smiling. "Happy Christmas Erin."

The girls smiled at each other for a moment, and then Erin hurled something else at Amy.

"Ow! Are you just used to doing that or something?" asked Amy, disgruntled.

"It's your present, genius. Oh, and you're welcome, by the way."

"Oh," said Amy, looking down at the rapped gift in her lap. "Thanks Erin!"

"Go on," urged her friend. "Open it!"

Amy looked up at her friend; her face was lit up just like any child on Christmas morning, running down to the Christmas tree and waiting eagerly to open the presents underneath. Perhaps that was what was so great about Erin; she didn't understand the meaning of the words "grow up".

So Amy ripped off the paper and lifted the lid of a small box. Inside was a miniature model of a broomstick.

"Cool," breathed Amy as she watched it fly in circles around her.

"It's a model of a Firebolt," explained Erin excitedly. "The best broom there is. Harry's got one."

"I love it!" exclaimed Amy. "It's almost like I have my own broom!" Then she remembered something. "Oh, hang on, I got you something," she said, reaching underneath her bed and pulling out a package. It wasn't rapped as nicely as Erin's gift to her had been, but Amy had never been good at rapping gifts. Arts and crafts weren't exactly her forte.

But, as it turned out, Amy needn't have worried about her rapping abilities, because Erin tore the paper right off, and gave a small exclamation of delight as she saw what was inside.

"You told me you liked some of the old Muggle toys your dad has, so I got you some."

"Yay!" exclaimed Erin. "A yoyo, a bouncy ball, a hacky sac…cool! Random things to play with when I'm bored, and I bet they'll be great for annoying people!"

"Glad you like them," laughed Amy.

"Thanks," said Erin, also laughing as she gave Amy a hug.

"You're very welcome," replied Amy, hugging her friend back.

The two girls spent the rest of the time before they knew Nick would be awake opening and playing with their other presents.

Erin had gotten various things from her family members, including an empty photo album and a necklace, and a mini broomstick servicing kit from Nick, which she said would be very useful at home, where her broom was currently located.

Amy had received another Quidditch related item from Nick: a book called _Quidditch Through the Ages_, which, according to the attached note, was supposed to be very interesting. She also received a small gift basket filled with candy from Tomas. Amy smiled, knowing that she had bought _him_ sweets as well. She also received a gift she had not expected. It was from Harry. He had known she now played wizard chess, so he had sent her her very own set. Although Amy had not expected him to give her anything, she was glad to know he considered her close enough to send a present to. She had not sent him anything, of course, because she had no idea where he was and wasn't sure he was somewhere her owl could find him, but stashed under her bed was a book on Defence Against the Dark Arts she thought he might like.

When they grew tired of sitting in bed, the girls got dressed and headed down to the common room, and, finding that Nick was not there yet, started another pillow fight. They stopped when they heard laughter on the other side of the room.

"Fighting already?" asked Nick, coming towards them.

"Happy Christmas!" called Erin over her shoulder in mid swing.

"Happy Christmas!" shouted Amy from her position on the floor.

When Nick had pulled the girls apart, they all thanked one another for their gifts. Erin had given Nick _Hogwarts a History_, because he seemed so interested in the castle, and Amy had given him a book as well; another one on defensive magic, because she had noticed how well he was doing in the DA, and how because of it, he had started doing better in class, something the girls both thought was very good for him, considering his low self-esteem and his brother's teasing.

They spent the rest of the morning roasting whatever they could on the Gryffindor fire, talking about things that didn't really matter, and playing chess. Amy broke in her chess set by winning spectacularly against both Erin and Nick.

After lunch they roamed the corridors (or in some cases ran down them at top speed for no apparent reason), admired the spectacular decorations hung on the walls, strung on the railing and placed on the statues, sang along to the carols sung by certain suits of armour, and ate candy in the kitchens. Erin even succeeded at sliding down the banister of one of the smaller staircases.

Next they decided to start a snowball fight out on the grounds, complete with forts and stashes of snow pilled up. At first the fight was every man (or girl or boy) for himself, but then Amy and Erin formed an alliance and ganged up on Nick for no real reason other than they felt like it. It was a good feeling for Amy; she didn't think she'd done something just because she wanted to for a long time.

Then of course there was the Hogwarts Christmas feast. Although there seemed to be no one else in the castle besides them, Amy and her friends saw that, in fact, most of the staff members had stayed, as well as a few people from each house. There were only three other Gryffindors besides themselves: two giggling third year girls and a quiet boy in seventh year. Amy had a hard time eating her food (which was so delicious she didn't think she would have room for any food ever again) while she was looking at the truly spectacular decorations, the best of which were the twelve Christmas trees placed around the hall, all decorated differently; one shone with sliver and gold streamers, while another one sparkled red and green. After the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and every other food Amy had come to associate with Christmas had disappeared, the desert appeared: puddings and ice creams and cakes and pies, all in to many flavours to count. Amy pulled several crackers with Erin and Nick, and they were, in her opinion, much better than Muggle crackers, mostly because of the bangs and sparks they made as they were pulled, but also because of the superior goods inside, such as real hats and games. The three friends collected another pack of Exploding Snap cards and some Gobstones before the evening was over.

After dinner, when they finally got back to Gryffindor Tower (after a disastrous encounter with Peeves that involved water balloons), they were pleased to see that the three other Gryffindors had already gone to bed. They stayed and talked by the fire for a while, and Amy loved how it didn't really matter what they were talking about; for one day, all of their troubles and worries seemed to vanish, replaced by the feeling of enormous content; that everything was okay, that everything was safe. If Amy had tried, she would not have been able to remember a time like that besides this since she first found out about magic.

"'Night, Amy!" called Erin through her curtains as they settled into their beds at around midnight. "Happy Christmas!"

Amy smiled into her pillow. "Happy Christmas, Erin."

And although she slept peacefully that night (and woke up peacefully, too), it would be the last time for several more months that she got to have this pleasant experience.

Even though Christmas was over, Erin would not let her friends get depressed. She told them constantly that New Years was on its way and that on New Year's Eve she would force them to stay up until midnight with her. And so they spent their days in much the same way as they had before Christmas; running through the castle, playing on the grounds, challenging each other to games of chess, and just generally annoying the other inhabitants of the castle.

Amy, however, found that she was becoming more tired again, due to the new dreams she was having at night. After three nights of having a dream placed in the same setting, she decided to tell her friends.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Nick asked from his seat by the fire.

"I had to be sure that they weren't just normal everyday dreams first," replied Amy.

"Yes," concluded Erin. "That makes sense. Besides, I didn't notice you tossing in your sleep, so they can't have been that bad."

"They weren't," said Amy. "Actually, they were completely different than before…they didn't feel like nightmares, but more like everyday dreams, except that they were always in the same place."

"What was this place like?" asked Nick curiously.

"Like…I don't know. I think it was a big house, but kind of old and mouldy. And there were lots of rooms…one of them had this tapestry in it…and this portrait of a scary old woman in the hall. It wasn't a very nice place, but it didn't feel dangerous, like my dreams of the corridor."

"Did you see any people?" asked Erin.

"I think so…their faces were blurred, though…everything was kind of blurred."

There was silence for a few moments.

"You should tell Dumbledore," said Nick.

"You really think he'll want to hear about his?" questioned Amy uncertainly.

"He defiantly will," stated Erin. "He told you himself to report all unusual dreams to him, didn't he?"

"Yeah…I guess so…"

So Amy went to Dumbledore's office that afternoon. He thanked her for telling him about her dreams, and told her he didn't think they were anything to worry about at the moment, but asked her once again to tell him if any other strange dreams, or changes in the ones she was already having, occurred. He also advised her not to tell anyone about them besides Erin and Nick. Then he wished her a "Happy-late-Christmas" and gave her a sherbet lemon.

A couple days later, Amy was surprised to see that she had gotten a letter from Harry. She got quite a shock when a house elf with particularly large ears and wearing a jumper, mismatched socks and multiple hats appeared in the common room and asked for her.

"Miss Amy Evans?" asked the creature in a high-pitched voice, looking around the room.

"Er- yes?" replied Amy jerkily, getting over the shock of having a house elf appear out of nowhere.

"Oh, miss!" squealed the creature, running over to her and bowing so low his nose touched the floor. "Such an honour to meet you! Dobby had hoped to meet the cousin of the great Harry Potter! Mr. Harry Potter has told me such wonderful things about you!"

Amy started, hundreds of question popping into her head. Who was this? Where had he come from? And was that true? Had Harry really told him good things about her? However, all she said was, "Er – thanks."

"Mr. Harry Potter has sent me with a letter to give to you!" exclaimed the elf joyfully, extending a thin arm and handing her an envelope.

"Oh! Thank you – uhh…"

"Dobby, miss! Dobby the house elf!"

"Please to meat you Dobby," said Amy, now smiling. "And thank you for the letter."

"Oh, it is my pleasure, miss!" exclaimed the over-enthusiastic elf. "I is sorry, miss, but Dobby must return to work, now! I hope I will see you soon!" And with that, he vanished with a loud crack.

"What on earth was that?" asked Erin from her sitting position on the floor, but Nick shushed her so Amy could read:

_Dear Amy,_

_How are you? Are you all right? Sorry I didn't get a chance to wish you a happy Christmas and all, but, well…things sort of went out of control. _

_Hermione says that you knew we were gone and that you went to see Dumbledore about it. Sorry about that, we didn't mean to worry you. And Mr. Weasley's going to be fine; he'll be released from St. Mungo's soon._

_Hermione also told me that you had a dream, and that somehow that's how you knew about the snake attack and that I had something to do with that. I'll be honest with you: that freaked me out a little. It still does. So I want you to promise that you'll go see Dumbledore if you have any more of these dreams. Oh, and tell me about them, too. Just be careful, got it?_

_To answer your question: yes, I did have a dream about the snake attack, and that's how Dumbledore knew that Mr. Weasley had been hurt. I'll tell you about it when I get back, but you have to tell me about yours too._

_I hope you had a happy Christmas, and that you and Erin and Nick are okay, and that this letter arrived without …well, interception._

_Harry._

_P.S. The house elf that gave you this is Dobby. He's kind of a friend of mine. Dumbledore sent him to see me, encase I wanted to write a letter to you without it getting checked by Umbridge. Dobby works in the Hogwarts kitchens as a free elf (Dumbledore pays him) and likes socks. He also happens to think I'm amazing, but don't listen if he tells you that._

"What's it say?" whispered Erin from over Amy's shoulder. Amy smiled; she knew Erin had been trying to look over her shoulder without Nick noticing and pulling her away.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Soon it was "New Year's Eve Eve", as Erin liked to call it, and something was troubling Amy again. Erin and Nick, on the other hand, seemed totally carefree, playing a vicious game of wizard chess by the fire.

"Y'know," announced Erin. "I'm gonna miss sitting here when everyone comes back. All the students in the older years will get here first and steal all of the good seats."

"That may be," answered Nick. "But at least we'll always have a place by the trusty, secluded window in the corner."

"Oh, yes," replied Erin sarcastically. "And we'll get to have homework and take notes and listen to people whispering about Amy again. I can't wait."

Nick chuckled, but Amy knew she could find something good about the holidays ending. "But the DA will be starting up again," she noted cheerfully.

"Oh, yes, it will be good to meet with the rest of the Dung Astronauts again," remarked Erin.

"There's no one else here!" observed Nick, exasperated. "You don't have to use your stupid code!"

"Oh, but it's _so_ much more fun than saying it the normal way," replied Erin, clearing trying to annoy Nick further.

"By the way, is there any particular pattern to the words you chose for your oh-so-special code?" asked Amy.

"Well, of course there is!" answered Erin, as though this should have been obvious. "It's the two first words with the right letters that pop into my head!"

Amy and Nick laughed. Amy was glad that Erin could always make her laugh so easily. Especially now, when she wanted more than anything for her thoughts not to stray back to memories of previous New Year's back home…

"This New Years is going to be great!" announced Erin. "We can steal sparklers from the Great Hall and bring them up here, as well as some more candy from the kitchens…"

Of course, Erin also had the habit of bringing up the topic of New Years when she could think of nothing else to talk about. And before she knew it, Amy found herself spacing out again….until-

"Oh, for goodness sake, Amy, just write them!"

Amy jumped and looked up at her short friend, standing in front of her with her hands on her hips.

"Wh-what do you mean?" asked Amy, even though she knew exactly what Erin meant.

"You know exactly what I mean!" exclaimed Erin, as if reading her thoughts. "You haven't spoken to your family at all this Christmas, and I know you want to! So just go send a letter to Tomas, and your friend Tara, who wanted you to go home, and even to your mom, who didn't."

Amy stared at her friend for a few moments before realising she was right, even though writing to her mother was in no way a pleasant thought.

"Okay," she relented. "You win, I will. But some time you're going to have to tell me how you always know what everyone is thinking!"

Erin just tapped her nose annoyingly. "Ah, but that's my little secret…"

Amy spent a while writing her weekly letter to Tara (again with at least three apologies for not coming home at Christmas, as well as an attached gift), a "Happy New Year's! What are you doing without me this year?" note to Tomas, along with _his_ gift, and a letter to her mom, in which (aside from another present) she apologized again for her behaviour, wished her a happy Christmas, and sent her best wishes for the new year.

And soon, Amy's first-ever New Year's Eve without her family had arrived. For some reason, this hit her a little harder than her first Christmas away from home, mostly because she had more time to think about it.

But throughout the evening, as she watched some of Dr. Filibuster's fireworks zoom around the common room, Erin teaching Nick how to handle a sparkler ("Look, you can even try to write words! It won't work very well though…"), and Erin adding way too many marshmallows to everyone's hot chocolate, Amy felt that, at this moment, _this_ was where she wanted to be. Here, with her friends, who had stayed here for her…her _best_ _friends_, along with Tara, she realized. And, just like at Christmas, Amy felt her worries slip away as she laughed and joked with two of her best friends by the fire, talking about nothing in particular, nothing important…

"Hey!" exclaimed Erin suddenly. We can start the countdown to New Year's now!"

"But it's only eleven o'clock," objected Nick, though only half-heartedly.

"Yes, exactly," countered Erin excitedly. "There's only sixty minutes left!"

And Amy, forgetting everything dark and troublesome, forgetting to try to forget about home, forgetting to remember all of the things she was missing, simply laughed and rolled her eyes.

So when the clock finally chimed midnight, all Amy thought about was yelling "HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!" at the top of her lungs with Erin and Nick, and then walloping Erin with a pillow.

"Ha! I got you first this year!"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: There you go, another chapter! It was weird, writing about Christmas and New Year's in April…oh, well! It was still fun. This was a different sort of chapter where nothing really happened…it actually turned out to be much longer than I thought it would be. And I know the gifts they got each other weren't the most original, but oh, well.

Now please review. PLEASE?! In honour of this fic being a year old? It would really help me as a writer and in updating _faster_, you know…


	15. The Quibbler

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm sorry about updating a little (only a little!) bit later than usual, but my neck seized up and that made it very difficult for me to do anything, much less type on the computer.

Disclaimer: Really, if I'm going to write a long fic, you'd think I would be able to come up with lots of these, but…Let's just say I don't own Harry Potter and be done.

Dedication: Dedicated to HP 5, which is a wonderful reference book for this fic…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 15: The Quibbler

The day that everyone arrived back at the castle was a hectic one. Everyone was glad to see their friends again, and people swapping stories of what their own Christmas had been like could be heard in every corner of the common room. Every corner, that is, except the one Amy, Erin and Nick sat in, staring glumly out the window as the few students around them scurried to do the homework they had neglected to do during the holidays.

Amy sighed. Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys had stopped to apologise for disappearing randomly at night (except Hermione, of course) and had asked them how their holidays had gone, suspiciously giving very little details about their own, except to assure them that Mr. Weasley was indeed cured completely and was doing well.

Harry had seemed particularly moody during their short meeting, and it seemed to have rubbed off on the three friends sitting in the corner, staring into space.

"I'm so bored!" burst out Erin suddenly. "Why don't we do something? Everyone else is!"

Amy looked over at her friend. She wasn't really sure she wanted to do anything at all. Now that the holidays were over, she could no longer forget about Umbridge, and her mother, and the dark threats that surrounded them in general. Plus, as Erin had complained multiple times, they could no longer sit by the fire, as other people took those seats, and they would soon be receiving homework again.

"I don't know…" sighed Amy at last. "I just don't feel like it."

"Oh, no," stated Erin. "I am not letting you slip into depression. It's not good, you know."

"Erin," said Nick suddenly. "Shut up."

"That was very rude," she informed him as though he didn't already know this.

"I'm allowed to be rude," he declared moodily. "I have a headache."

Erin pouted. "I hate it when you have a headache, you're always so grumpy. Come on!" She heaved him to his feet. "We're going to the hospital wing."

"Oh, come on, I don't need to go – ahh!" He stopped short in his complaining as Erin pinched his ear. He grabbed her hand and pulled it away. "Okay, fine, I'll go to the hospital wing! You don't always have to resort to violence, you know!"

Erin simply smirked somewhat triumphantly as she waved to Amy and marched Nick out of the common room.

And although this left Amy alone, she found she didn't mind so terribly much, as it left her to be moody and distant in peace. Admittedly, though, she thought to herself, Erin was right: it probably wasn't good for her. She looked around the common room and for a moment wished she could be like everyone else: smiling and chatting away, completely content with their lives. Or, at least, that's how it looked to her. She guessed she couldn't really say what sort of troubles any of them had. But at least they were happy at the moment.

Just then someone crossed her line of vision who did not look carefree at all. It was Harry. In fact, he looked even more moody than Amy guessed she was.

"Hey, Harry!" she called. "What's got you looking so glum?"

He walked towards her and collapsed into the armchair across from her. "Y'know, I could ask you the very same question," he said.

"I'm just depressed because the holidays are over and my mother hasn't talked to me in…let's see…four months."

"Ouch," sympathised Harry.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Plus I think I'm on the verge of sleep deprivation."

"Dreams?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"Yeah, yeah…" sighed Amy. She then filled him in on her new dreams, the most recent of which included a mad old house elf and a dingy kitchen.

"And you were there, in the last one," she said, finishing up her explanation.

Harry seemed a little surprised, but thought for a while before saying, "So these dreams are getting clearer?"

"Every night," she answered wearily.

"Does Dumbledore know?"

"Yep." After a pause, she turned and looked him in the eye. "Do think they mean anything? Like, are they real, like the snake dream was?"

"I don't know," was her cousin's eventual reply, although Amy noticed he didn't quite meat her eyes. Deciding to let this slide for now, she started to interrogate him. "Now, what about you? You seem more beat than usual. Or is that just the overall stress of witnessing a snake attack and worrying about the victim all night?"

Harry sighed. "Well, there's that. And then there's also the fact that I have to take these Occlumency lessons with Snape. It's this thing that I'm supposed to learn because it'll block my mind from…I don't know…visions like the one I had before Christmas, I guess."

"Why shouldn't you be having these dreams?"

"I don't know…Dumbledore doesn't want me to though…"

Amy thought for a moment. "Since I'm still having these dreams, do you think I should learn Occlu-whatever too?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "It's weird. I asked Snape about that when he told me I had to take lessons with him but he said that Dumbledore didn't think it was necessary for you. I have no clue why."

"That _is _weird," agreed Amy, puzzled.

"Yeah," said Harry again. "But listen…don't tell anyone else about my lessons with Snape okay? Not even Erin and Nick. I've told Ron and Hermione, and well, you, but I don't really think it's a good idea for a lot of people know. So if anyone asks, I'm taking _remedial Potions_," he finished with a grimace.

"Oh! Yeah, of course, I understand," replied Amy, completely startled that Harry would trust her with such confidential information. She got to know him better with every passing month, and even though they were related by blood (however distantly), Amy appreciated that he considered them related enough to tell her this.

"Anyway," said Harry, standing up. "Thanks for telling me about your dream. Make sure to keep me updated."

"Will do," chirped Amy, smiling without knowing why.

"See you later!" called Harry as he left for his dormitory.

And for reasons far beyond her comprehension, her mood lightened a little. She was still fractionally more cheerful when Erin and Nick returned from their "headache remedying mission", as Erin liked to call it, still not frowning as she went to bed, and even smiling slightly as she got ready for breakfast the next day.

However, a few days later, she found that any chance of staying in this okay-mood was completely demolished as she read the front page of the _Daily Prophet_:

MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN 

_MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS 'RALLYING POINT'_

_FOR OLD DEATH EATERS_

"Oh, oh," was Erin's soft comment.

Amy stared at the page as Nick agreed with Erin. "Oh, oh is right," he said worriedly.

Amy had to read all of the crime descriptions under the photos of the escaped wizards and witches. This was one of those times when she felt incredibly left out of the magical community because she didn't already know these sorts of things. She had heard of some of them before, but the only ones whose crimes she remembered were Sirius Black's (who didn't actually have a picture as he had escaped several years ago already) and Bellatrix Lestrange's, because Erin had told her about the witch.

"So, they think Black's behind it?" she said, asking an obvious question.

"Looks like it," commented Nick. "Although, who's to say if they're right?"

"True," agreed Erin, "But we still have the whole Death-Eaters-have-escaped-and-are-now-free-to-create-havoc-anytime-they-see-fit problem to worry about."

Nick looked at her exasperatedly. "No one in their right mind would call this situation _that_."

"Yes, well, that hardly matters, does it? That's what _I'm_ going to call it."

And call it that she did. Every time they talked about the escaped Death Eaters, that's what she'd call the "problem". And they did talk about it a lot, as they were all very worried. Amy wondered if this would affect Hogwarts, or any other magical areas, or if the Death Eaters, instead of "creating havoc" as Erin put it, would wait, and stay in hiding, just like Voldemort. Amy could tell that everyone else was worried, too, especially Harry, Ron, and Hermione; she hardly ever saw them do anything but whisper together anymore. Even the teachers were worried (except Umbridge, who arrogantly thought the Ministry was bound to catch them all soon). Needless to say, however, whenever Erin said "Death-Eaters-have-escaped-and-are-now-free-to-create-havoc-anytime-they-see-fit", it sounded so funny to Amy and Nick that the mood managed to lighten ever so slightly.

To make matters worse, Harry soon told them that an Unspeakable (everyone had to explain to Amy what that meant) by the name of Bode had been murdered by some Devil's Snare while recovering in St. Mungo's.

"And we were there when it arrived," he had informed them gloomily. "We were visiting Mr. Weasley in the hospital and we saw him get it disguised as a house plant for a Christmas gift."

And as much as they tried to assure him that he couldn't have done anything (from what Professor Sprout had said in Herbology, the plant would have strangled him if he had tried), Harry continued to be rather down about it. Well, about that, the Death Eater escape (or "The Great Death Eater Escape" as Erin now called it, since she decided her other name for it was too long), the fact that Hagrid was now on probation (something Amy thought was unfair) and a million other things that seemed to be troubling him.

Amy soon found, however, that not very many people new or cared about Bode's death. Everyone, though, talked about the Death Eaters, and suddenly, students from families who had suffered at the hands of one of the escaped Death Eaters, like Susan Bones, were receiving a lot of unwanted attention.

"I bet you _anything_ that Umbridge will do more than just act confident about this," was all Erin could say by the end of the day, as they had talked about nothing else for hours, and had completed almost none of their homework.

And, sure enough, the day after the breakout the students all woke up to find new posters plastered on every notice board in the school:

BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS 

_Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information_

_That is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach._

_The above is in accordance with Educational Decree _

_Number Twenty-six._

Sighed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor 

Now, wherever they went, Amy, Erin and Nick would see teachers huddled together, whispering quietly.

"Oh, I wish they could tell us what they were saying!" exclaimed Erin, frustrated. "I bet they know more about The Great Death Eater Escape than they let on… Stupid Educational Decree Number Five Thousand and Two, or what ever we're at now…"

Amy smiled. At least no amount of Educational Decrees could keep Erin from making her and Nick laugh, whether she meant for them to or not.

"Ever notice how Educational Decrees never help us learn anything?" asked Nick when they had sat down for lunch.

"Yes," replied Amy. "But Umbridge needs to put up these rules as educational ones to mask their true meaning and purpose. In my opinion, it isn't working very well."

"No," commented Erin. "Not when a bunch of first years can see through it."

Soon, what with the DA and worrying about one thing or another, February arrived. And soon after that came, you guessed it, Valentine's Day.

"Oooh, goody, it's on a Saturday this year," said Erin, reading the notice that had been placed up that said there would be a trip to Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day. This meant that the castle would be mostly empty, and that, as Erin put it, they would not have to leave their dormitories.

"Why don't you want to leave the dormitory?" Nick asked her, amused. "Afraid a secret admirer will chase you round all day?"

Erin snorted. "As if. No, I merely want to avoid all the emotional commotion, and all the icky lovey-dovey stuff that might take place in the corridors, or even in the common room. The only thing _I_ like about Valentine's Day is the chocolate, which I will be receiving from home."

And so, despite Nick's head shaking, Amy and Erin spent Valentine's Day eating the chocolate Erin's family had sent her in their dorm. Some might have called it sad, or even pathetic, but they simply didn't care; the chocolate was just too good. Amy enjoyed it, not having to worry about getting embarrassed, and feeling at complete liberty to wonder who _was_ getting embarrassed. She knew Harry had a date with Cho Chang, a pretty sixth year Ravenclaw girl who played Seeker, and wondered how that was going. She completely forgot about it, however, as Erin smashed a pillow over her head.

The girls cautiously came out of their dorm that evening, mostly to acknowledge the fact that Nick existed. He just laughed at them as they snuck back upstairs after waving to him. Needless to say, both girls went to bed with a stomachache, due to the fact that they had eaten nothing but extensive amounts of chocolate all day.

Quite soon after Valentine's Day was Gryffindor's second Quidditch match of the season. Although Amy was very excited to see another match, she was also worried about three things: how Harry, Fred and George would feel now that they couldn't play, how good the people replacing them would be (even though she was fairly sure Ginny would do quite well), and Ron's goal keeping abilities. She had only seen him play once, during the first match, but Harry told her that he was very good when on form, and that his only trouble was nerves. Amy trusted Harry's judgement, and had faith in Ron, but wondered how Ron would be any less nervous this time than he had been before.

As Harry had said, the very best thing about the match was that it had been short; Amy, her friends, and the rest of the Gryffindors had indeed, as he put it, had to endure only twenty minutes of agony. And while the match had been a complete disaster, what with Ron's comical fourteenth failed save, the Beaters missing Bludgers (and even hitting another person in the face once) and players almost falling off their brooms, at least Ginny had managed to catch the Snitch, meaning that Gryffindor only lost by ten points.

One good thing about the game, however, was that Amy had got to meet Hagrid, who had come to watch. Hagrid had been simply ecstatic to meet her, shaking her hand so hard she fell over, and then catching her and setting her on her feet by the collar of her robes. Although he was big, hairy, loud, and liked to keep extremely dangerous magical creatures as pets (according to Harry) Amy liked Hagrid quite a bit. He was genuinely kind, and seemed to understand that she didn't want everyone gawking at her and talking about the "Evans" thing.

"Who knows?" said Erin, after they had been talking to Hagrid for a while, "Maybe we'll take Care of Magical Creatures in two years."

Amy had had to do her best not to laugh as Hermione's eyes had gone wide and Harry had shook his head vigorously from his position behind Hagrid's back. Ron, of course, was nowhere to be found.

They bid farewell to Hagrid as they needed to get back to the common room, and Hagrid said that they were welcome to come visit him in his cabin, an offer Amy thought she might just take him up on sometime.

The atmosphere in the common room left Amy wishing she were still in the stands, as it was anything but cheerful. Harry was depressed. Ginny was depressed, Fred and George were depressed, the rest of the team was depressed, and Ron was so depressed he sat all by himself, unable to talk about how depressed he was. Even Hermione was depressed. Everywhere Amy looked, she saw depressed people.

When Amy mentioned this to Erin and Nick, Erin commented, "That's quite an impressive list of depressed people you've got there."

"Yeah," sighed Amy. "And I'm on it."

"Well, I'm going to relieve everyone from the incredible redundancy and say that I'm not," stated Erin. "We could still win the cup."

The other two looked at her incredulously.

"What?" she asked. "We could. We won the first match. If the points in the next few games work out, we could be in the final game. And Ron could still get better."

The three of them went to bed shortly after, unable to stand anymore of the repetitive depression. Plus, Amy thought she should probably be trying to get a bit more sleep, seeing as she kept having the dreams of the strange house almost every night. To her disappointment, though, this was one of those nights.

The morning, however, held such a surprise that she got shocked into being completely awake.

As Erin would say in the years to come, "It all started when the mail came and millions of owls landed in front of Harry for no apparent reason".

Needless to say, it was not millions of owls that landed in front of Harry, but dozens would probably have been accurate. Everyone in the hall turned to look at the baffled boy as he tried to sort everything out, his two best friends hurrying to help him, and Luna drifting over to their table from hers.

Amy stared at her cousin for a second, and then decided to go and see what on earth was going on. She bent low and crept along the table to avoid those unblinking stares from fellow students from turning towards her.

"Hey, what's going on?" she asked Harry, as Erin grabbed Nick's arm and dragged him to where Amy stood. It wasn't Harry, however, but Hermione who answered her question.

"They're replies from people who have read the interview!" she said excitedly.

"What interview?" asked Nick.

But Hermione was now ripping open an envelope, so Ron decided to chuck something at them.

"Ow!" exclaimed Amy. "What's this?" She looked down at what she now held in her hands and saw a copy of the magazine _The Quibbler_. She vaguely remembered that Luna's dad was the editor of the magazine, but she was too busy looking at the cover to think about it much.

"Harry Potter speaks out at last: the truth about He Who Must Not Be Named and the night I saw him return," read Amy. "What's this?"

"I got an interview in _The Quibbler_," answered Harry.

"I can see that," she said, not knowing how to respond.

"It's good, isn't it?" commented Luna in her usual dreamy manner.

"Er – yeah," replied Amy uncertainly.

"Hermione set it up," said Harry. "She reckons this is the best way to raise public awareness, or whatever, and to get people to believe me."

"Oh," said Amy. "Cool! Good idea!"

"Awesome!" exclaimed Erin. "Where can I get a copy?"

"Oh," said Harry. "Uh…you can have the one they sent us, I know we won't need it."

"Thanks."

"This one's from a bloke who thinks you're off your rocker," said Ron, reading one of the letters. "Ah, well."

Everyone became more excited when Harry found someone who believed him a few letters later. Fred and George even came to help open them.

"How do you think Umbridge will react?" Amy asked Harry.

"I don't know," replied Harry, shrugging. "But I bet it'll be funny."

Amy's question was answered a bit later, when Umbridge interrupted their letter-opening session to ask what was going on. When Harry showed her the magazine, her faced turned the ugliest shade of purple Amy had ever seen, and she banned Harry from going to Hogsmeade again, which was where he had gotten interviewed.

By mere mid morning, new signs had been posted everywhere:

BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS 

_Any student found in possession of the magazine _

The Quibbler _will be expelled._

_The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-seven._

Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor 

Not only did this mean that Nick had to give Erin a Galleon (he had bet her that Umbridge wouldn't get signs up until the next day), and that Amy had to give her a sickle (she had bet her that Umbridge wouldn't come up with a new Educational Decree for another week), but that _everyone_ read the article behind the High Inquisitor's back, charming it to look like blank parchment when anyone other than themselves looked at it, or using other such techniques to ensure secrecy. Hermione kindly charmed Amy, Erin and Nick's copy for them.

However, having to charm the parchment didn't dampen its results. More and more people, in and outside of Hogwarts, were starting to believe Harry (even Seamus Finnigan, who had recently not even been on speaking terms with Harry, now wanted to join the DA). The teacher's reactions were good as well (except Umbridge's, of course); each displayed their happiness in different ways, whether they shoved a box of sugar mice into Harry's hands, awarded a good deal more points than was entirely necessary to Gryffindor when Harry passed them a watering can, or broke into hysterical sobs and predicted that Harry was not, in fact, going to suffer an extremely painful death. Amy even heard that Harry and Cho had made up (she had heard about their row as well). To cap it all, a bunch of Slytherins who's parents had been named Death Eaters were outraged, but could say nothing because that would mean admitting they'd read the article. Luna had even told them excitedly that her dad was reprinting the magazine.

That night there was an extremely loud party in the common room, celebrating Harry's success over Umbridge. Fred and George had even decorated, meaning they had taken the risk of putting an enlarged copy of the front cover of _The Quibbler_ on the wall so that the huge picture of Harry shouted things like "THE MINISTRY ARE MORONS!" and "EAT DUNG UMBRIDGE!" every once in a while.

Amy, Erin and Nick cheered along with everyone else, feeling free for the first time that day to talk about the interview. Amy loved it. She loved that Harry was doing something to get his story heard, something to defy Umbridge and the Ministry. She had also been a bit frightened though, at what Harry had to say. His story about what happened in the graveyard increased her pride and respect for him, and what he had done. She was sure that she would not have been able to do something like that, much less stay alive that long, had she been in the same situation.

"Strawberry tart?" asked Fred, coming up to Amy.

She looked at him suspiciously. "From you?" she grinned. "Not a chance."

He just laughed and departed again in search of a more gullible victim for his supposed prank.

However, after a while, the party died down, and poster was no longer as funny, but was beginning to be annoying as the spell on Harry's picture started to fade and he only shouted disconnect words like "Dung!" and "Umbridge!" in an increasingly high voice.

That night, Amy went to bed with no thoughts troubling her mind other than "Dung!…Umbridge!" which she could not stop repeating in her head for some reason. She was just reaching the edges of sleep when she heard an exasperated, muffled scream from beside her.

"What's up?" she asked groggily, turning on her side to face Erin.

"It's driving me crazy!" shouted the brunette. "I can't get the words "Dung" and "Umbridge" out of my head!"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Yay! Another chapter! That's fifteen now, which is a quite a lot for me, considering this is my first fic. Surprisingly, I can find nothing else to say, so I'll skip right to the part where I ask you to review.

Please review! It really helps me! (I know I say this a lot, but it's true). Oh, and I do understand that some people have been having trouble reviewing lately. My friend can't get the review button to work properly. But please try anyway! Thanks :)


	16. The Sneak

A/N: Okay, first, I understand that the Educational Decrees and Death Eater breakout headlines from last chapter had some problems. Not my fault. They are perfectly fine on Word. So please just bare with me and excuse the confusing non-centred, non-italicised bits. Sorry.

Also, I'm posting another chapter really soon. Last weekend I was really, really busy, so I didn't have time to edit this chapter. Instead, I wrote another one during the week and edited them both at the same time. In short, this chapter is late, but you get to read two.

Disclaimer: For the sixteenth time, no I do not own Harry Potter, and no, I never said I did.

Dedication: Dedicated once more to my wonderful readers and reviewers. You guys rock!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 16: The Sneak

It was evening. It was dinnertime. It was a weekday. That meant that most of the population of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was in the Great Hall. Sadly, today Amy and her friends were an exception, as they had a lot of homework and had decided to eat dinner early in order to finish it. It was a bit depressing.

"There should be a law against too much homework," declared Erin.

"That'd be nice," sighed Amy wistfully, blowing a strand of hair out of her face and looking down at her Potions essay with no particular interest.

"If you can't cope with it now, what will you do when you get to fifth year, or seventh? They get at least three times as much homework," replied Nick, a bitter tone in his voice.

"I'm not going to argue with you, you'll just get a headache and then you're no fun at all," answered Erin.

Nick just glowered, concentrating hard on his essay. But when the girls didn't hear the sound of a quill scribbling, they watched him silently for a few moments. His eyes were focused intently on his parchment, but he was biting the end of his quill nervously.

"Nick," said Erin calmly. "If you need help, just ask."

The boy was silent for a few moments, and then he looked up. "Fine. Do either of you have a clue as to what we're supposed to be doing?"

Amy had to hide a smile as Erin sighed and tried to explain the particular concept of potion making they were supposed to write an essay about. Nick would always work so hard, but would hardly ever admit that he needed help. Amy was sure he didn't like the fact that she and Erin could understand things without assistance, but he couldn't. Despite this, though, he was improving a lot. The girls noticed it with every passing month, although they pretended they didn't. Amy was pretty proud of him.

"Hey, Amy!" came Erin's voice, calling Amy back to the present. "We're off to the Library. Want to come?"

"Er – sure – wait, what were we planning on doing?" she asked, somewhat suspiciously. "You know Madame Pince threw us out for hexing Matt and  
-"

"Yeah, well, he deserved it. But this is nothing like that. You could trust me a little more, you know?" replied Erin, pretending to be offended. "We just have to go get a book for Nick's essay."

Amy laughed. "Sure, I'll come. I have to look up some random reference for History of Magic, anyway…

And so they walked through the almost deserted corridors in the direction of the Library, taking a few short cuts, Erin humming the tune of the Pink Panther along the way. This made Amy want to burst out laughing, and Nick try to make them hurry up so they could get there faster, where the strict librarian would surely put a stop to Erin's humming.

They didn't get all the way there, however, because they heard a distant scream.

"What was that?" asked Nick, startled.

"A scream," answered Erin, pointing out the painfully obvious. "I think, however, that you meant, "_Who's_ that"?"

Nick, instead of answering, simply glared.

The person, who Amy assumed was a woman, because the voice was fairly high-pitched, screamed again.

Amy, partly because she was curious and worried, and partly because she wanted to avoid any more headaches for her friends, started down the corridor towards the stairs that led to the Entrance Hall, which was where she thought the screams were coming from, saying, "Come on!"

As soon as she got to the Entrance Hall, her friends in tow, Amy knew that she had been right to think the screams were coming from there. Students were streaming out of the Great Hall and forming a wide circle around a solitary figure. Amy, Erin and Nick squeezed through the crowd and crammed onto the marble staircase to see what was going on.

Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher, was standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall, looking completely mad, holding an empty sherry bottle, her many shawls askew and her glasses lopsided, her hair standing up on end. Two large trunks lay at her feet, looking quite as though they'd been thrown at her. She was staring, terrified, at a figure at the foot of the steps, which Amy could not see, and screaming, "No! NO! This cannot be happening…it cannot…I refuse to accept it!"

When Amy heard the high-pitched, sickeningly amused voice, however, it was proved that visual recognition of the figure was not necessary.

"You didn't realise this was coming?" asked Umbridge.

Although Amy had been told multiple times by Harry, Ron, and Hermione that the Divination teacher was an annoying fraud, she couldn't help but feel extremely sorry for her, especially when the opposing side was the Head Toad herself, as Erin called her. She and her friends watched in horror with everyone else in the hall as Umbridge yelled that Professor Trelawney had been sacked and now had to leave Hogwarts.

It was a fact that, apparently, Trelawney refused to accept.

Professor McGonagall came forward to comfort the hysterical 'Seer'. "There, there, Sybill," she assured her. "Calm down…blow your nose on this…it's not as bad as you think, now…you are not going to have to leave Hogwarts…"

"Oh, really, Professor McGonagall?" questioned Umbridge in her most deadly voice, stepping forward. "And your authority for that statement is…?"

"That would me mine," came a deep voice from the oak front doors, which had now opened.

Students beside the doors hurriedly shuffled aside and let the speaker, Dumbledore, pass through the ring of onlookers and into the centre next to Professor Trelawney.

And while Umbridge argued that she had a note sighed by the Minister to dismiss Trelawney, Dumbledore simply smiled and said that while it was true that, as the High Inquisitor, she could fire teachers, but she did not have the authority to force them to leave the castle. At this, Professor Trelawney half laughed, half hiccupped, saying that no, she would leave if she had to.

But Dumbledore said sharply, "No. It is my wish that you remain, Sybill."

And so Professor Trelawney was escorted back upstairs by McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick, passing Amy on the stairs, leaving her to wonder why exactly Dumbledore wanted the so-called Seer to stay so much. However, she hurriedly turned her attention back to Dumbledore and Umbridge.

Umbridge was, if possible, even angrier than before. She argued that the new Divination teacher that she would appoint wouldn't have a personal quarters if Trelawney stayed, but Dumbledore said calmly that wouldn't be a problem, as he had already found a suitable teacher who would much prefer loggings on the ground floor.

Erin would say in the years to come, "And you should have heard just how shrill that old toad's voice could get". Apparently, Umbridge was under the impression that only she had the authority to appoint new teachers, but Dumbledore pointed out that her statement was wrong; the High Inquisitor would appoint new staff if, and only if, the Headmaster could not find a suitable candidate, which, of course, he had.

_Ha! Another loophole_, though Amy. _Really, who wrote these Educational Decree things?_

She had little time to dwell on this, however, for Dumbledore had said, "May I introduce you?" and had turned to face the front doors, which were still held open in the night.

Suddenly, Amy heard hooves. Students near the doors tripped over themselves in their haste to back away further. Then, galloping through the mist came a creature that made Amy's jaw drop. It was a centaur, just as Nick had whispered to her, awestruck.

"This is Firenze," said Dumbledore happily to Umbridge, who looked as though she might have been hit by lightning. "I think you'll find him suitable."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"A centaur? How on earth did Dumbledore manage that?" asked Amy incredulously, a question that virtually everyone else in the common room was also asking right about then.

"Well, they do live in the forest," stated Nick. "It says so in _Hogwarts: A History_."

Amy nodded, but Erin said, "That still doesn't explain it, though. Centaurs never help humans, or any other race if they can help it. They think it's shameful. Plus, they're all about not messing up what's written in the stars, or whatever."

Nick sighed. "True. I'm not quite sure how that works out."

"I didn't even know centaurs existed," commented Amy.

The other two looked at her.

"Hello?" said Amy. "They may have existed in fairy tales to me, but hey, so did witches, and I was plenty shocked to find out _they_ were real."

"Good point," replied Erin, nodding.

"Wonder how Umbridge will take it?" Amy wondered aloud.

They looked at her again, stunned.

"What?" she asked, defensive. "Does it just happen to be stare-at-Amy-like-she's-crazy night?"

"Hey! That sounds like something _I'm_ supposed to say!" wined Erin playfully.

"It's just," said Nick, ignoring Erin, "We were kind of there. We saw that she took it-"

"As if a lightning bolt had hit her," offered Erin. "Or as if the apocalypse was coming. Or like dinosaurs-"

"I think we get it, Erin!" said Nick, irritated, as Erin grinned.

"I _know _she was shocked," explained Amy. "I meant that Umbridge hates half-breads-"

"How do you know?" interrupted Erin.

"Harry told-"

"Ahhhh," was the only reply she got from the short girl.

"You think of centaurs as half-breads?" asked Nick.

"No! Will you guys just shut up and listen?" yelled Amy. Fortunately, the volume of conversation in the room was, in general, so loud that no one but her friends heard her.

Amazingly, they shut up.

Amy looked at her friends a bit guiltily. "Sorry, guys," she started. "Sleep deprivation-"

"Is now recognised as an acceptable excuse for all future outbursts," offered Erin. "Now, are you going to say what you told us to shut up and listen to you say, or not?"

Amy laughed. "I'm just saying that Umbridge will think of centaurs as half-breads. And seeing as she hates them and we now have one in the castle…" she trailed off, not needing to explain the rest.

"Ah," said Erin, taking on a wise tone of voice. "See, we do."

Amy laughed, but Nick looked confused; obviously, coming from an all-wizard family, he had never heard Yoda-talk. There was a comfortable silence for a few moments, as everyone thought about what Amy had said.

Then, out of the blue, as always, Erin asked, "When's the next Daffodil Arrangement?"

Nick rolled his eyes and Amy laughed again, shoving her hand into the pocket of her robes. "I'm not sure," she replied, taking out her DA coin, looking at it and then putting it back.

"Are you sure now?" questioned Erin, her eyebrows raised.

"Yep," replied Amy.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Check your own coin!" Amy teased her.

And the next thing she knew she was laughing into the pillow that had been thrown at her face.

As it turned out, the next DA meeting was a few days later. They had started to learn to conjure Patronuses, and Amy, Erin and Nick arrived early to practice, for it was fairly hard magic for them, being in first year, and all. Soon, though, other people had arrived, and the Patronuses of those (like Hermione) lucky enough to have succeeded in conjuring one swirled around them playfully. Attempting not to get discouraged, Amy tried again.

"There, what do think it looks like?" Amy asked Erin eagerly, as something silvery shot out of her wand.

"Like a wisp of smoke?" suggested Erin, pretending to be helpful.

Amy gave her a look.

"Well, I don't know, it hardly ever stays there for more than a few seconds, how am I supposed to get a good look?"

"Just try. Expecto Patronum!" Amy yelled.

Erin squinted at the wisp of smoke. "Oh, I don't know…maybe a small creature…with four legs?"

"Thanks for being so specific," replied Amy sarcastically.

"What about mine? Expecto Patronum!"

"Uhhh…it has a tail!" exclaimed Amy, noticing something she hadn't before.

"Really?" asked Erin. "I mean, it's not like most animals have tails!" She dropped her sarcastic manner. "Like you're one to talk about being specific."

Amy just rolled her eyes. "How's yours coming along, Nick?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at the boy.

"Not good," he replied shortly. "I can't seem to get anything to happen."

"Still?" inquired Erin, coming over. "Maybe you just need to think of a happier memory."

"I can't think of a good one," he replied glumly.

"Just try," Erin encouraged him.

After a bit of staring at the floor, Nick looked up. "Okay," he said, "I think I have one."

Amy and Erin stared at him expectantly.

"Oh, well…I can't do it with you two watching me!" he exclaimed.

"Oh!" Amy and Erin both turned away, Erin twiddling her thumbs and whistling at the ceiling. From behind them, they heard Nick shout "_Expecto Patronum_!" and spun around quickly to see if anything had happened.

Something had. A silvery ghost of something shot out from Nick's wand, and hung in mid-air for a second before disappearing.

"See?" said Erin excitedly. "I _told_ you it was just your memory that was the problem!"

"Which one did you chose?" asked Amy eagerly.

"The mark I got on my last Transfiguration essay," he said shyly.

Amy smiled as Erin went to congratulate Nick. He must have been pretty proud of his mark on that essay if it had gotten silvery wisps out of his wand.

All in all, it turned out to be a very good lesson, as by the end of it, Nick could always produce slivery wisps of smoke, Amy and Erin's Patronuses were starting to take some shape, and Cary even succeeded in conjuring a corporeal Patronus in the form of an owl. Harry didn't think a first year had ever managed to do such impressive magic before, except perhaps Hermione.

Close to the end of the session, everyone turned as the door to the Room of Requirement opened, and then closed again. Amy looked around to see Dobby the house-elf, once again wearing at least eight woolly hats, hobbling into the room. He tugged on Harry's robes, a look of pure terror on his small face, making his eyes look, if possible, even bigger.

"Hi Dobby!" said Harry. "What are you – what's wrong?" he asked, catching sight of the elf's expression.

"Harry Potter, sir," he squeaked, trembling all over. "Harry Potter, sir…Dobby has come to warn you…but the house-elves have been warned not to tell…" He then ran headfirst into the wall, something that made everyone's eyes widen in shock, except for Harry, who looked as though he was used to this already.

After several attempts to hurt himself, Dobby finally divulged enough information for Harry, who was attempting to stop the attempts of the poor elf, to guess what he was warning them about.

Umbridge had found out. Umbridge knew where they were. Umbridge was coming to find them.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" he bellowed at them. "RUN!"

What Harry hadn't noticed, however, was that Erin hadn't been waiting for anything. Indeed, well before Harry said, or shouted, rather, "RUN!" Erin had grabbed Amy and Nick by the arm, and had began shepherding them, and Cary, René, and Lawrence, who were just in front of them, towards the door. The result was that they got to the door and out of it before anyone else did.

No sooner was Amy out the door than a spell was shot right at her, forcing her to duck. She heard Erin yell, "Stupefy!" and suddenly there was commotion everywhere. Amy grabbed Erin's arm, because she was closest, and ran down the corridor. Suddenly, a tall Slytherin boy with a pale face and blond hair ran at them, his wand held high, a smirk on his face.

With reflexes she didn't know she had, Amy yelled, "Impedimenta!" The spell hit him right in the chest. She shoved him away as she continued her frantic sprint for Gryffindor Tower. At the end of the hall, she heard footsteps running towards her and the person beside her, and turned to face them, but was suddenly pulled around the corner and behind the statue that stood there.

"Wha-?"

"Shhh!" hissed Nick, and Amy assumed that it had been him who had grabbed her and the figure beside her, who turned out to be Erin.

They all froze, and miraculously the footsteps passed them by.

"Come on," whispered Amy franticly. "We have to get to Gryffindor Tower!"

"No!" exclaimed Erin, just as quietly. "It's only nine thirty. If we can just make it to the Owlery…it's close by here, and we wouldn't be braking the rules!"

"Right," said Nick, "Let's go."

They snuck out from behind the statue and ran as quickly as they could without making any noise down the side corridor. After a few more heart stopping minutes, they came to the Owlery. Amy quickly opened the door and they rushed in, only to find they weren't the first people to think to come here.

"What are you doing here?" Amy asked Ron and Hermione.

"Hiding, same as you," answered Ron.

"Yes," said Hermione. "I'm just glad you didn't try to make it all the way back to Gryffindor Tower…"

"What if we're caught in here?" asked Erin.

"Then we're writing letters," replied Ron.

"_All_ of us? At the same _time_?" asked Nick.

"Um, well…I'll be writing one and so will, uh, Amy…the rest of you will just be friends who came along. Here, does anyone have any parchment?"

Erin rummaged in her robe pockets for a second, and then produced a piece of parchment, which she ripped in half and gave one each to Hermione and Amy, and a quill and ink pot, which she handed to Hermione. Amy got out her own quill and ink, and she and Hermione both pretended to be writing something.

When they heard footsteps coming quickly towards the Owlery, Amy and Hermione hastily started scribbling, and the others hurried to assume a patiently waiting pose, although Ron looked as though he thought there was little point. The footsteps neared, and passed them, however, without anyone opening the door.

"Do you know if anyone was caught?" Hermione whispered worriedly.

Amy shook her head. "No, but we lost track of everyone else, so we're not sure if they made it to somewhere safe okay."

"I think Cary and René went down the corridor that leads to a girls bathroom," added Erin.

Hermione nodded, biting her lip.

"What if someone was caught?" asked Ron, voicing a question none of them wanted to ask.

No one answered. No one knew _how_ to answer.

After about ten minutes, they decided to look out the door, since it had been at least five minutes ago that they had heard any noise from beyond the door.

"Is anyone out there?" asked Nick.

"I don't think so..." replied Hermione, looking up and down the corridor. "No, the cost is clear."

"Now what?" asked Erin. "It's past curfew. We don't want to be caught."

"Ron and I are prefects," answered Hermione. "We'll just walk casually back to Gryffindor Tower, and if anyone sees us, we'll pretend to have caught you three out and to be escorting you back to your dorms."

Amy nodded. It seemed like a good plan. Still, there was something that was bothering her.

"Did anyone see Harry running off?" she asked.

Ron shook his head, and Hermione bit her lip again. Erin and Nick were silent.

"Right," said Amy. "Well, we'll see what happened to everyone when we get to the common room. Let's go."

And so they set off down the corridor, Ron and Hermione adjusting their badges so that they were easily visible, and Amy, Erin and Nick walking slightly ahead of them, as though being herded. They made their journey as quickly and as discretely as possible. Ron and Hermione even led the Amy and her friends through several secret passages they hadn't even known existed. Amy made a mental note as to where they were and where they led for future use.

They quickly looked around when they got back to the common room.

"Thank _goodness_!" yelled René loudly, her face pale as she came quickly towards them, an anxious looking Cary just behind her.

"René!" warned Cary in the sharpest tone Amy had ever heard her use.

"Oh, right," said René quickly, lowering her voice. "Are you all alright? Is everyone else okay?"

"We're okay," replied Erin. "We're not sure about everyone else."

René seemed to get even paler.

"Did you two get away okay?" Hermione asked the girls.

Cary nodded. "We hid in a bathroom for a bit. Someone came to find us but we stunned them and then snuck back here. We lost Lawrence though…" she trailed off worriedly.

"What happens if anyone gets caught?" breathed René anxiously.

"I'm not sure," replied Hermione nervously. "But let's sit down. We don't want to attract any attention."

They all did as she suggested, choosing a particularly private corner of the common room to continue their conversation in.

"So who do you think ratted us out?" asked René as soon as they had sat down.

"Huh?" asked Ron blankly.

"Well, someone had to have," explained Cary, once again resuming her usual calm and calculative manner. "How else would Umbridge have found out? We kept the DA a secret for a long time without her knowing, so I can see no other logical explanation."

Thank goodness for Cary and her logic.

"Well," said Hermione grimly, "If anyone _did_ tell Umbridge, we'll be able to tell."

"What do you mean?" asked René.

"Remember the paper we all signed?" asked Hermione, and they all nodded. "I jinxed it so that we would know if someone told on us."

"You _jinxed_ it? That's so cool!" exclaimed Erin.

"What'll happen to them?" asked Ron eagerly.

Hermione ignored him. "Anyway," she said to the group of first year students in front of her, "You should all head up to your dormitories. Ron and I will keep a lookout for the others."

They all nodded, and Amy and Erin said goodnight to Nick before following the other girls up to their dorm.

As soon as they got there, however, Amy excused herself to go to the washroom, and headed back downstairs instead.

"Hey! I thought you said you were going to the washroom!" someone called out to her, just as she started down the stairs.

"And you believed me?" she asked, turning to face Erin.

"No, stupid, that's why I followed you! Duh."

The girls ran back into the common room to see Ron and Hermione still sitting in the corner, looking at something and whispering to one another.

Amy and Erin came up to them as Ron was saying, "Well, if Harry's in Dumbledore's office with Umbridge and Fudge…"

"Harry's in Dumbledore's office?" Amy practically yelled, shocked.

Ron and Hermione both jumped about a foot and spun around.

"_Amy_!"

"Oh, sorry," she said, more quietly. "But what do you mean, Harry's in Dumbledore's office? How do you know?"

"Oh, um-" Ron tried to hide whatever he and Hermione had been looking at, but Erin was too quick for him and snatched it out of his hand.

"It's a map!" she said excitedly to Amy, shoving it under her nose.

Amy looked at it in shock. It was, indeed, a map. It also happened to be a _detailed_ map, of _Hogwarts_, with little labelled dots that _moved_. On closer inspection, Amy saw that each dot represented a real person. "Amy Evans" was located next to "Erin Waters", both of which were in the Gryffindor common room next to "Ronald Weasley" and "Hermione Granger".

"Wow," breathed Amy.

"How come we didn't know about this?" asked Erin indignantly.

"Shhh! Almost no one knows about it," said Ron. "And you can't tell other people about it, either."

"Not even Nick?" asked Amy.

"_No_," said Hermione. "You two aren't even supposed to know. It's Harry's."

_Aha_, thought Amy triumphantly. _Another one of Harry Potter's many secrets is uncovered! Gosh, I'm starting to think like Erin._

"It's the Marauder's map," explained Ron. "It shows all of Hogwarts, and everyone in it. It even has all of the secret passageways."

"_Awesome_!" breathed Erin.

"Yes," said Hermione. "It's very useful. And this," she continued, pointing to a spot on the parchment, "Is how we know Harry's in trouble."

Amy looked at the map. In Dumbledore's office were several dots. Amy spotted the labels "Harry Potter", "Dolores Umbridge", "Cornelius Fudge", and "Albus Dumbledore" among them.

"Oh, oh," she said. "So I guess he was caught?"

"Looks like it," answered Hermione, ringing her hands.

"Hey!" exclaimed Erin suddenly. "Dumbledore's dot disappeared!"

"What?" said Hermione. "It can't have!"

"But it did!" Erin assured her. "It didn't even go out the door, it just disappeared completely."

"But you can't Apparate or Disapparate inside the Hogwarts grounds!" insisted Hermione.

"Dumbledore will have found another way," said Ron. "Perhaps he used a Portkey."

"So…what does that mean?" asked Amy tentatively.

Hermione bit her lip. "I don't know…"

And Amy knew it was never a good thing when Hermione didn't know.

A few minutes later they saw that Harry had departed from the Headmaster's office and was returning slowly to Gryffindor Tower. Ron suggested that Amy and Erin go to bed, and he and Hermione could wait for Harry, but the girls wouldn't hear of it. They insisted that they stay and wait for Harry too, although this took much longer than was to be expected, as he appeared to be walking very slowly and taking several detours.

Finally, the portrait hole swung forward and the messy haired boy clambered into the room.

"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione at once, jumping to her feet. She brought him quickly over to where they were sitting. "Are you alright? What's been going on? Was anyone else caught?"

"_Where's Dumbledore_?" asked Amy and Erin urgently at the same time.

When Harry appeared confused, Ron explained, "We were watching you on the Marauder's map. These two," he pointed at Amy and Erin, who glared at him defiantly, "Snuck up on us and saw it, and they insisted on waiting for you."

"So _what happened_?" Amy asked impatiently.

"Well," sighed Harry. "Marietta Edgecombe told on us, and Umbridge came with a bunch of Slytherins whose parents are friendly with the Ministry. They took me up to Dumbledore's office."

"And?" Hermione whispered.

"Well, as I'm sure you guys saw, Fudge was there, as well as some Aurors-"

"And Percy, the great git," muttered Ron under his breath.

"Er – yeah," said Harry, and Amy wondered just who Percy was.

"So," continued Harry. "They had found the list of people who signed, and when they saw that we had named ourselves Dumbledore's Army-"

"Oh, of course!" gasped Hermione. "They thought we meant literally – what did they do?"

"Well, I think someone put a memory charm on Marietta – she told them that there had only been one meeting, the one tonight. Because of our name, Dumbledore managed to cover for us, saying that he organised it.

Amy's eyes went wide, Erin's face paled, and Hermione clapped a hand to her mouth.

"What did he do then?" asked Hermione through her hand.

"He left. He had to, didn't he? The Ministry thought he'd broken the law, and they were going to send him to Azkaban. So he just took Fawkes and disappeared…"

He trailed off and they all glanced at each other nervously.

"So what now?" Erin dared voice the question that none of them wanted to ask.

Harry sighed. "So now we've got a new Headmistress who looks an awful lot like a toad," he announced bitterly.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Wow, that was a long chapter. Gee, I really need to come up with better chapter titles, don't I? Naming this one "The Sneak" makes it really obvious. I just can't seem to think of any good ones…

So now please review. Yes, I know. It's repetitive. It's redundant. I ask you every chapter. That's just the way life is, I'm afraid.

And to all those who know what I'm talking about: I LOSE!!!


	17. Twin Troublemakers

A/N: Hello everyone! This is the second chapter in a few days, but as I said in my author's note last chapter, I was not able to update last week due to lack of time and computer access. Anyway, I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Who thinks I own Harry Potter? For all those of you who raised your hands, please see any of my previous disclaimers. Everyone else is good to go.

Dedication: This is dedicated to Lady Jarine, who let me know exactly how the reply thingies work…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 17: Twin Troublemakers

And indeed, as Amy saw the next day, the Head Toad, as Erin called her, was in charge. It was apparent from the moment Amy saw her, for the new Headmistress seemed to be exceedingly pleased with herself. This made Amy feel sick, and Erin, whenever she passed Umbridge in the halls, would mime gagging. She actually did it pretty well.

Overnight, two things seemed to have happened. Signs had been posted everywhere, reading:

BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced 

_Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of _

_Witchcraft and Wizardry._

_The above is in accordance with Educational Decree _

_Number Twenty-eight._

_Signed: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic_

The other thing was that somehow, the whole school knew that Dumbledore had been arrested, and had escaped, overcoming two Aurors, the High Inquisitor, the Junior Assistant the Minister (which, apparently, was this Percy person), and the Minister for Magic himself. Everyone also knew that Harry and Marietta had both been there to witness this event, and that Marietta was now in the hospital wing.

To say that the way the castle was run had not changed would be a lie; the kind of lie that the new Headmistress herself might tell. However, despite the fact that she was not able to use Dumbledore's vacant office (it seemed to have sealed itself against her), Umbridge was making it perfectly clear that now that she had complete control over Hogwarts, things were going to change.

One of these things was that students who supported the Ministry were placed above the others. Umbridge had achieved this by forming the Inquisitorial Squad (which she allowed, meaning it unfortunately did not violate Educational Decree Number Twenty-four), a group of students who were loyal to the Ministry, and, incidentally, it was made up entirely of Slytherins. All members of the Squad were in fifth year or older (this was probably the only reason why Matt wasn't on it), and had the power to take House points and hand out detentions.

This meant that suddenly, the Gryffindors weren't doing so well in the House point department. Amy had even had ten points taken from Gryffindor for scowling at Umbridge, and then five more for scowling at the particular Slytherin who had taken the first ten points.

It was safe to say that by lunchtime, Amy, Erin and Nick were all in a very bad mood. They were just walking down the marble staircase to the Great Hall when they met Fred and George, who were walking towards them.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked them grumpily.

"Oh, we're just off to cause our new Head some trouble," answered one of them (Amy still couldn't tell which) casually.

"Wait – _what_?" inquired Amy. "What does "trouble" mean?"

"Well, you know," replied the other twin. "Mayhem in general."

"You'll be expelled!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, we don't really care," one of them (Fred, she thought) told her. "The joke shop's well underway and we don't really feel like hanging around here with Umbridge in charge."

"Oh," was all Amy could think to say.

"You're sure you've thought this through?" asked Nick incredulously.

"Oh, yes," said who Amy figured was George. "The only thing keeping us here is our determination to do our bit for Dumbledore by making our new Head's time at Hogwarts a living nightmare."

"Now _that_ bit, I like," said Amy.

"So what are you going to do?" asked Erin eagerly, grinning mischievously.

However, Fred and George only tapped their noses and directed Amy, Erin and Nick into the Great Hall.

"So that no one will suspect you," had explained one of the twins.

And although Fred and George hadn't even given a vague reply to Erin's question, the answer soon became apparent in the form of a loud BOOM, which shook the very floor of the Great Hall.

What followed was what Erin called, "The bestest day ever".

She caught a brief glance at the worried look on Hermione's face before Erin, looking immensely excited, dragged Amy out to the Entrance Hall to see what was going on.

And just when they were running up the marble staircase, Amy and her friends had to duck to avoid a dragon composed of green and gold sparks as it came soaring towards them, letting them know exactly what the mischievous twins had done.

Huge fireworks whizzed through the corridors, knocking things over and ricocheting of the walls, scattering sparkles and stars everywhere. The longer Amy watched them, the more energy they seemed to have, getting faster and faster, and flashing colours more frequently as the minutes passed, instead of fizzling and going out or fading away.

"_Awesome_!" exclaimed Erin.

The enormous fireworks continued to zoom around the castle all day, making it very difficult for anyone inside it to get anything done. An enormous, shocking pink Catherine wheel had knocked Amy to the ground as she was walking towards her Charms class. An exploding firecracker had almost taken out Erin on her way to the washroom. Sparklers had attacked Nick as they were heading down to dinner later that night. None of them really minded, though.

The classes that day had been particularly fun. Every once in a while a stray firework would make its way into their classroom, sometimes announcing themselves with sounds such as, "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" None of the teachers seemed to mind very much, though. Instead of trying to get rid of the fireworks themselves (and Amy was sure that they could have), they simply told someone to run off and fetch Umbridge, who would then come scurrying into the room, looking frantic, and try to round up the firework, obviously having no clue how to get rid of them. She had already tried things like stunning or vanishing them, but to her surprise they either multiplied or exploded with such a force that she was knocked backward.

"Well," said Erin gleefully, as she watched Umbridge swat at a red, fire/spark breathing dragon with a metal pole, the class laughing and Professor McGonagall seeming to observe her with mild interest. "It seems Umbridge has had quite the exiting first day as our new Head."

There was a party in Fred and George's honour that night in the common room. They took the opportunity to make a waiting list of people who wished to purchase some of their fireworks, even though they would now have to start making them again from scratch, seeing as they had used their entire supply for Umbridge.

Erin signed up for a Deflagration Deluxe set of fireworks, and Amy for a Basic Blaze Box.

"Those are quite some fireworks," she told the twins happily. She was indeed very impressed with what they had managed to create. Aside from being the most awesome fireworks ever, they were quite an advanced bit of magic.

"They were _amazing_!" exclaimed Erin. "What other stuff are you making? Where's your shop going to be?"

Fred and George laughed and told her about some of their other inventions, such as Headless Hats and Skiving Snackboxes, saying she could have a discount if she promised to use them to get rid of Umbridge, to which she happily agreed.

Nick made the wise decision not to aggravate Erin in the next few days, as she was now fully armed with a number of Fred and George's items.

That night was another long one for Amy, who was continuing to have nasty dreams. The door at the end of the corridor had come back, and this time she went further down it. Then, to her horror, but, as she was certain, to someone else's joy, the door opened, and she found herself in a circular room with many doors lining the walls. As though floating weightlessly through the air, she went forward. A door in front of her opened and-

"Amy. Amy! Are you okay?"

"Wha-?" Amy sat straight up and found that Erin was watching her through the darkness.

"What's up?" asked her friend.

"Oh, uh – dreams," explained Amy. "Weird dreams."

"Weird as in _my_ kind of weird, or weird as in creepy weird?"

Amy sighed. "Still creepy weird."

"Have they changed?" inquired Erin worriedly.

"Um – a bit."

"You gonna tell Dumbledore?"

Amy sighed. "He's gone, Erin."

"Oh, right," Erin replied after a moment. "Well, my brain doesn't work at three in the morning."

Amy lay back down and tried to fall back to sleep. The truth was that, for the first time, Amy really wished she could tell Dumbledore. She was actually getting scared of the dreams because they wouldn't stop, they just got worse. Also, it didn't help that Harry seemed to be having similar dreams, and that Dumbledore was taking precautions against them, whereas he seemed intrigued, and only slightly worried about _her_ dreams.

_I just wish I knew what was going on_, she thought. She resolved to talk to Harry about it, hopefully to find out what was so different between their situations.

However, it became apparent in the next few days that Harry was in no mood to talk. She heard that he had had another fight with Cho from Hermione, but somehow Amy didn't think that was what was bothering him. She thought that if that _were_ the case, Harry would probably be more angry than gloomy.

He had also stopped taking Occlumency lessons. From what she had found out from Ron and Hermione, Amy had figured out that Harry had started acting strangely just after his last Occlumency lesson. When she tried to ask him about it, however, Harry just claimed he was tired.

In the next few days, the tables in the common room filled up with career pamphlets for the fifth and seventh years, who were getting ready to take either their O.W.L.s or their N.E.W.T.s. This meant they were very busy, and Amy didn't get a chance to talk to Harry about her dreams, or ask Hermione and Ron how he was doing, as they were all either worrying or flipping through pamphlets at top speed.

"Are you feeling okay?" Nick asked Amy one evening. "You look really stressed."

"Oh…" sighed Amy. "I guess I am…with these dreams and Harry acting weird and everything…"

Nick and Erin looked at her worriedly.

"But you know what would take my mind of that? Chess. Who's up for a game of chess?" she asked them. She hated to make them worry.

"Fine," sighed Erin. "I'll volunteer to be hopelessly beaten like mashed potatoes."

Later that evening, something else happened to lighten Amy's mood. Fred and George gave them a head's up for their next prank, saying to make sure they went to class the next day to avoid anyone suspecting them. Amy couldn't wait to find out what the twins would pull off next.

As she was walking down the corridor in the afternoon the next day, right when she was expecting Fred and George's prank, she saw Harry, Ron and Hermione walking just ahead of her. She heard Hermione saying, "Harry, don't do it, please don't do it!" and then Ron telling her in a low voice, "Give it a rest, okay? He can make up his own mind".

"What are you planning now?" she asked them from behind, startling them.

"Don't _do_ that!" shouted Ron, jumping.

"Harry's going to break into Umbridge's office so he can use her Floo network to talk to someone because it's the only one that's not being watched," Hermione spewed out all at once.

Harry glared at her.

"What?" exclaimed Amy, but only so that people passing them couldn't hear. "If you're caught she's sure to expel you!"

"Exactly!" said Hermione, looking relieved to have someone back up her point.

"There's just someone I need to talk to," said Harry quietly. Amy decided she could wonder whom he wanted to talk to so badly later.

"Harry, Dumbledore left so you could stay at school!" she argued. "If you're expelled, it'll have been for nothing!"

"That's what I said," exclaimed Hermione franticly.

"And as _I _said," interrupted Ron, "Harry can make his own decisions."

There was silence for a few moments, where Amy looked at Harry carefully, hoping for some form of explanation, as Ron and Hermione watched nervously. Harry said nothing, however, and eventually Amy gave up with a sigh.

"Fine," she told him. "You obviously aren't going to tell me what's really bothering you, and I'm too tired to argue. Do whatever you want, I don't care." And with that, she walked away without a backwards glance.

And as she didn't look back, she didn't see the slightly shocked, almost hurt look on Harry's face.

She wasn't angry, exactly, more annoyed and exasperated, and stressed out and tired. All in all, she was simply not in the mood to deal with her moody cousin.

Then, right in front of her in the corridor, completely out of nowhere, came a swamp. Just like that, it appeared. Amy was so startled that she slipped on the suddenly wet floor, soaking her shoes, and had to hold onto the wall for support.

People on both sides of the hall were shrieking at the smelly, muddy, mucky wetland that was now contained within it. Amy looked down at the swamp. There didn't seem to be anything dangerous about it; there were cattails sticking out of the mud, frogs sitting idly on lily pads, grass growing out of the filthy water. Really, apart from being slightly gross, it was ingenious. And Amy just happened to know the two genii who had put it there.

There was a sudden sloshing noise, and Amy looked over to see Erin sitting in the swamp, soaked to the skin with her robes covered in mud.

"_Awesome_!" was all Erin said. She tried to get up. This looked like it was proving difficult for her, so Amy waded out to her friend and helped her up.

"Thank you," said Erin, as though this was something that happened every day.

Amy heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Umbridge coming towards them, waddling furiously. Obviously, someone on the Inquisitorial Squad had gone to fetch her. She approached the swamp and glared at everyone around it.

"Did anyone happen to see who did this?" she asked in a dangerously low voice.

A frog croaked and jumped from his lily pad into the water.

"Er – I think I saw some boys who l-looked like they did," confessed a small, trembling girl who Amy thought she remembered was a Slytherin.

"Really?" asked Umbridge, her voice girlishly sweet again. "What did they look like, dear?"

Amy's breath caught. The Weasley's red hair was difficult to miss.

"Um, they were o-older students," stuttered the girl. "They – uh, they had r-red hair."

Amy tried hard not to flinch.

"Red hair?" inquired Umbridge. "Do you know anything else about them?"

"Well, uh…I-I think they used to be G-Gryffindor's Beaters but…"

It was clear that the girl didn't need to go on, however, for Umbridge's eyes suddenly gleamed.

"Mr. Malfoy," she said, addressing the member of her Inquisitorial Squad whom Amy had had to jinx when they had found out about the DA. "Take some other members of the Squad and round up the Weasley twins, Fred and George, would you now?"

"Yes, Headmistress," Malfoy smirked, and he beckoned to some of the Slytherins beside him, who followed him towards the stairs. Umbridge followed them.

As soon as they were out of sight, Amy dashed down the other end of the corridor, with Erin hot on her heals. They ripped through a tapestry and flew down the stairs behind it two at a time, determined to reach Fred and George before the Inquisitorial Squad, to warn them. Amy wasn't sure what Umbridge would do to them, but she didn't want to find out.

The girls headed (or, rather, sprinted) for the Great Hall, where Fred and George were probably eating (or pretending to eat so they wouldn't be suspected) at the moment. They ran right into the Hall, attracting many strange looks, and skidded to a halt in front of the twins.

"Gotta…go," panted Amy. "Umbridge…knows…you…swamp-"

"They know you did it!" Erin whispered frantically, gasping for air. "They're coming to get you!"

The twins immediately stood up and walked calmly out of the Hall, Erin and Amy attempting to follow.

They had no sooner reached the Entrance Hall, however, than they heard Malfoy shout, "Over here!" and the Inquisitorial Squad rushed at them. Fred and George pushed Amy and Erin away, whispering, "Go!" and soon the Slytherins had surrounded the twins, and were herding them towards the marble staircase. They did not go quietly.

"Hey, you! Watch where you're pointing that wand!"

"Don't push me, I can walk without assistance!"

"Out of the way!"

" '_Take us to your leader_.' "

Amy and Erin tried to help them, but they could not get close to them.

And then, with a sudden clang, crash, BOOM, Umbridge came partway down the marble staircase to meet her pray, dozens of students running along in her wake. The noise attracted the attention of people in the Great Hall, and soon a huge ring of people had formed around Fred and George, much like the night Trelawney was sacked.

It didn't occur to Amy until later how funny they must have looked, students, teachers and ghosts all forming a great ring, some covered in swamp water, mud, and plants, some clean and confused, with Fred and George in the centre, Umbridge just above them on the stairs, and Peeves hovering gleefully over them all. Really, the sight must have been hilarious.

"So," said Umbridge, her voice triumphant. "So – you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"

"Pretty amusing, yeah," replied Fred casually, obviously unafraid.

Amy and Erin had to agree with him on that.

Just then Filch hurried up to Umbridge looking simply delighted about something. Apparently, he had forms clutched in his hand that would allow him to whip students. Amy would dwell on that horrible thought later.

"You two," said Umbridge, turning back to the twins, "Are about to learn what happens to wrong-doers in my school."

Erin would later rant about how Hogwarts was in _no_ way _Umbridge's_ school.

"You know what?" said Fred. "I don't think we are."

They then announced that they had out-grown full-time education and that they reckoned it was time to test their talents in the real world. And before Umbridge could so much as blink, they raised their wands and shouted, "_Accio brooms_!"

There was a loud crash from somewhere above them, and soon the twin's brooms came zooming into view, one of them with a chain still on it.

"We won't be seeing you," said Fred, addressing Umbridge as he mounted his broom.

"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," said George, mounting his own.

They then took the opportunity to advertise their portable swamp shamelessly to the crowded Hall, announcing that they had a shop in Diagon Alley, and that there would be discounts on all items for everyone who swore to use their products to get rid of Umbridge.

Umbridge screeched, "STOP THEM!" but it was too late, the twins had already taken off.

They turned to the poltergeist. "Give her hell from us, Peeves," said Fred, and Peeves swept off his hat and saluted them as they turned and flew out the open front doors into the fabulous sunset, the students clapping and cheering loudly from below, Amy and Erin, both still soaking wet and covered in mud from head to foot, running to the doors and whistling after them.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Ha! Last chapter was really long, and this chapter was shorter than usual. Neat. I realize that some of the dialogue for the last part is directly from the book. It's just hard for me to do scenes like this one any other way. By the way, the "take us to your leader" part was supposed to be one of the twins making a joke. Just in case you didn't get that.

Please review now! Reviews are great, and awesome, and cool, and a million other good adjectives!


	18. Weasley is our King

A/N: Yay! Chapter 18! Wow, we're coming up on the end of the fic…or, well, the first part of it, anyways. Teehee! Still, it's crazy to think about it…

Disclaimer: If you've read this far into the fic, I assume that you're smart enough to know I don't own Harry Potter.

Dedication: Thanks to all my readers for reading this far! Whoot! And a special thanks to everyone who reviews!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 18: Weasley is our King

When Amy went to bed that night, the Weasley twins were heroes. When she woke up, however, they were a legend. Everyone told the story of how Fred and George had escaped differently, and some of the versions were most definitely incorrect. Even people who had witnessed the event were going on about how the twins had jinxed Umbridge, or that Dungbombs had been involved.

The best part, as Erin said, was that Umbridge didn't have a clue how to remove the swamp, which meant that it was still in the fifth floor corridor, and that Filch had to throw students across it in order for them to reach their classes.

Also, now that Fred and George had left, students who had been inspired by their example were now causing as much trouble for Umbridge as they could, setting off stink pellets, sending Nifflers into her office and other such things. There were so many new troublemakers that Umbridge and Filch couldn't track them all down, even with the help of the Inquisitorial Squad, which, incidentally, seemed now to have a heightened casualty rate.

Although they themselves were gone, Fred and George had left a lasting impact on the school, mostly because of how many Skiving Snackboxes they had managed to sell. Whenever Umbridge walked into her classroom, students would begin to vomit or bleed or faint, or else their temperature would get dangerously high. Everyone claimed that they had "Umbridge-itis", term Amy was pretty sure Erin had come up with.

Of course, no student could match the destructive chaos that Peeves seemed to be making. He spent the day zooming around, spilling inkpots, throwing balls of paper, bursting though blackboards, snuffing candles, juggling torches, knocking over tables, and just generally causing mayhem. Whenever he seemed to grow bored of this he would take to following Umbridge around, blowing raspberries every time she tried to speak. Best of all, the other teachers didn't seem particularly bothered by any of this and made no attempts to stop it, and even seemed to be helping things along.

All of this helped Amy's sprits soar like they had not done in months. Despite her ever-present dreams, she seemed less tried, and she laughed and smiled more. She also found that little things like spelling a few words wrong on her essays didn't matter to her so much anymore. Instead of wanting to scream in frustration and throw her completed homework into the fire, she merely shrugged and thrust it into her bag anyway.

She was in such a good mood that she was delighted, instead of annoyed, when Harry came to talk to her.

"Hey," he said, sitting next to her on the couch in the common room one evening.

"Oh, hi!" she replied cheerily, looking up from her chess match with Erin. "How're you?"

"I was actually going to ask you the very same question," answered Harry.

Amy laughed. "Well, I'm good," she said. "Running out of Nosebleed Nougats, but pretty good nonetheless."

"So you're participating in the rebellion against Umbridge?"

"Of course we are," Erin answered for her, not looking up from the game. "I haven't been properly healthy in Defence Against the Dark Arts class for a week."

Harry chuckled. "Hey listen," he said, turning back to Amy. "About last week…sorry I was so moody and everything, just-"

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Amy, remembering something, "I was actually going to apologies for being kind of short with you about sneaking into Umbridge's office. I have since discovered that sleep deprivation, lack of food and the inability to understand what's happening are not a good mix with me. Since I was in a bad mood, I was generally not caring about a whole lot of stuff, including being rude, so sorry about that."

Unbelievably, Amy found that she was still in a good mood after making her apology. The fact that Harry hadn't told her what was going on didn't seem so bad anymore. He obviously wasn't going to tell her everything, and she was just going to have to get used to it. Of course, that didn't mean Amy couldn't still try to find these things out on her own.

"Oh!" said Harry, looking slightly taken aback. "Er – that's okay. You had every right to be short with me, it's just that I…well, I was in a bad mood, and I can't tell you everything, for obvious reasons."

"It's okay," Amy assured him. "I know being you probably isn't the easiest thing in the world, so it's okay if you're moody sometimes. And I know that if you don't tell me something, you probably have a good reason."

"Got it," replied Harry cheerfully, and he put his arm around her in a one-armed hug.

"So," said Hermione, coming up to them suddenly. Obviously, she had been waiting for Harry to finish his talk with Amy before coming over. "How are you?"

"Er – good," answered Amy.

"Phenomenal," replied Erin with a goofy grin.

Hermione smiled. "That's good to hear. Oh hey, where'd Nick get off to?"

"He's reading in his dormitory," said Erin. "He says there's too many distractions down here."

And indeed, the common room was full of people making many distractions. There were students doing everything from planning pranks and plotting revenge against Umbridge to playing games of Exploding Snap, and everything in between. Needless to say, all of this made a great deal of noise.

"That's understandable," remarked Harry.

"Have either of you thought about studying for your exams yet?" asked Hermione.

At this simple question, Amy groaned loudly and Erin hid her head in a pillow.

"What?" said Hermione. "They're not that far away and you could-"

"Hermione, give it a rest," sighed Harry, as though he knew what was coming. "They're in first year."

"So? It still determines whether they'll move on to second year!"

"They'll do just fine," replied Harry confidently. "They're both great students and are really smart."

"Thanks Harry," Amy mumbled into her hands, and Erin nodded from behind her pillow.

"I know," sighed Hermione. "I just think they should be prepared."

"We'll start studying in June," Amy assured Hermione, looking up at her at last. "That's what we decided. It will give us plenty of time."

Hermione sighed again and nodded. "Okay, but remember, if you need help-"

"You'll be the first person we'll ask, unless of course you're studying, because frankly, I like the way my nose is shaped just fine," Amy assured her.

Hermione smiled. "Good."

"Is it safe to come out?" asked Erin.

"Yes," sighed Amy.

When Harry and Hermione looked curiously at her, Amy told them quietly. "Erin doesn't like to think about exams, so we're not supposed to mention them until June."

Harry laughed. "I'll make sure to keep that in mind," he said.

"Besides, we've got other things to worry about just now," Erin told them.

"You mean _besides_ having Peeves accidentally kill you?" joked Harry.

"Well…there's that," answered Erin, nodding. "But also…the Quidditch Match is coming up."

And indeed, the next Quidditch match, the one that would determine who won the cup, Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, was fast approaching, and for all anyone knew, it could go just the same as the last one, so no one in Gryffindor was getting their hopes up.

No one except Erin, of course.

"You really think we'll win?" Nick asked Erin the morning of the match. "You really think the team can pull it off?"

"Of course they can!" she answered confidently. "Their only big problem is Ron's nerves, and that can be dealt with."

Amy sighed. In truth, she was having trouble beating down her own hopes.

"Look at it realistically-" began Nick.

"Since when have I _ever_ looked at anything realistically?" asked Erin.

"She has a point," mumbled Amy tiredly.

"I think you need more confidence in your house team," Erin told Nick.

"Really?"

"Yes. We could even see if Luna will let you borrow her hat, she'll be cheering for her own house, of course…"

As her friends talked, Amy zoned out. She was particularly tired because last night the dream about the corridor had come back, and Amy had continued past the circular room. This time she had gone much further, past a room with sparkling lights, and into a huge room that Amy thought resembled a cathedral, and then down a row of shelves, that, oddly enough, did not contain books. For some reason, the first thing she had thought of when she had woken up was the number ninety-seven.

She was soon wide awake, however, nerves tying her stomach in knots, as she wished Ron good luck (who didn't seem as nervous, because, as he figured, he couldn't get any worse, and so had nothing to lose), and went down to the Quidditch stadium with Erin, Nick, Harry and Hermione.

They were hardly a minute into the game when Ravenclaw scored. Amy moaned along with everyone else, but Erin just clapped her hands over her ears, correctly assuming that the Slytherins would start chanting "Weasley is our King" again.

Just then, Matt came towards them from out of the crowd. Amy and Erin stiffened in their seats and looked resolutely away, knowing Nick preferred to deal with his twin on his own.

"Hey little bro," said Matt, addressing Nick with a well-practiced sneer. He seemed to get a kick out of reminding Nick that he was older by a few minutes whenever they met. "How are you liking losing?"

"It's actually kind of nice," replied Nick casually, not even turning in his seat to face Matt. "It's familiar, you know?"

Matt snickered. "Yeah, 'cause we all know who you lose to, right?"

"Yup," said Nick. "We all know it's you. However, for once, I find that I don't care. Oh, look! Gryffindor's got the ball," he added, dragging Erin's hands away from her eyes and pointing.

Matt stood there for several more minutes, looking sullen, before realising that Nick would continue to ignore him, and stalking off.

"Man, he has some attitude issues," observed Erin.

"Good job, Nick," said Amy proudly. "You got rid of him without having to jinx him!" Indeed, thought Amy, that had been a first.

"Well, it's just that I'd rather not waste so much effort on him," commented Nick.

Erin laughed.

It was only then that Amy noticed something.

"Hey!" she said. "Harry and Hermione are gone!"

"That's weird," said Erin, looking around. "I didn't notice them leave."

"Bradley with the Quaffle…and he's coming up on goal…" announced Lee, slightly lacking in his usual gusto, now that Fred and George had left.

Amy, Erin and Nick spun around to watch Ron, Erin's knuckles clenched so hard they turned white. They watched as Bradley swerved close to the hoops, aiming for the left goalhoop. Then, just at the last minute he feinted, and shot at the right one.

What came next was complete and utter confusion, because, as it turned out, Ron had predicted this particular move and had saved the goal. He _saved_ it. That was something he had never done before, in a game, at least. As soon as the Gryffindors figured it out, there were tremendous cheers and clapping, drowning out the Slytherin's "Weasley is our King" song.

However, soon there was no need to drown out the song at all, for the Slytherins were no longer singing it after Ron saved another goal…and another. Soon it was the Gryffindors, not the Ravenclaws who were cheering most of the time, as Gryffindor took possession of the Quaffle and scored a few times.

Amy turned to look at Erin, only to see that her friend was staring over at the Slytherin section.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I think I've got an idea…" replied Erin slowly. "Remind me how the song starts again?"

Amy looked at her as though she'd gone mental, but soon Erin had come up with a revised version of the song, and an older student had made copies of it with a spell, and they were handing them out to Gryffindor spectators. Amy and Erin started to sing, and eventually enough people caught on that the song could be heard above the crowd, it's volume rising with every second.

_Weasley can save anything, _

_He never leaves a single ring, _

_That's why Gryffindors all sing: _

_Weasley is our King._

From the brief glimpse that Amy caught of Ron's face, he couldn't believe his ears.

Ron didn't let in another goal all game. He saved every attempt, no matter how hard the throws were. But Ravenclaw let in a few other goals, which meant that by the end of the match, Gryffindor Housewas cheering so loudly Amy was sure no one would have noticed if a bomb went off, and the team looked as though they would burst with joy as they accepted the Quidditch House Cup to even more applause. Amy was sure Angelina was crying, and Ron looked so proud Amy could almost _see_ his confidence grow.

Soon Amy saw Harry and Hermione running up towards Ron, and wondered briefly where they'd been, before she was pushed forward through the crowd carrying Ron on their shoulders back up to the castle, still singing.

_Weasley is our King,_

_Weasley is our King,_

_He didn't let the Quaffle in,_

_Weasley is our King._

There was a huge party in the common room, of course, where Amy celebrated so late into the night with everyone else that she actually slept soundly. With all the excitement of the party, as well as the food, drinks, cheering, outbursts of "Weasley is our King", people randomly turning into canaries (Amy suspected there were a few of Fred and George's tarts around) and all the fun she was having, Amy didn't have any time to think about where Harry and Hermione had disappeared to.

She had plenty of time to think about it the next day, however. She was wandering idly around the grounds the day after the match for the simple reason that it was a nice, sunny day outside and she was in a good mood.

Nick had shut himself in his dorm reading again ("and on such a beautiful day, too!" had complained Erin) and Erin was just writing an owl to her family, seeing as she had been forgetting to write them recently, due to everything that was happening. She had said she would meet Amy outside when she was finished.

Amy was skipping rocks across the lake when she saw Erin come out the oak front doors. Wanting to sneak up on her and scare her, Amy darted behind a line of trees.

She was just coming up to a beech tree when she heard Ron's familiar voice say unbelievingly, "No…no, he can't have."

"Well, he has," Hermione's firm voice floated towards Amy. "Grawp's about sixteen feet tall, enjoys ripping up twenty-foot pine trees, and knows me," she snorted, "As _Hermy_."

Amy's eyes widened in shock. _What_, precisely, was sixteen feet tall? Who _was_ this Grawp? And how did Hermione know…it? Trying not to panic slightly, she edged closer to listen to their conversation.

Ron was just giving a nervous laugh when someone came up to Amy and tapped her on the shoulder, making her jump and spin around.

"Oh," said René casually. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh, um, th-that's alright, I just-"

"Amy, are you okay? You seem a little pale."

"O-Oh," stuttered Amy, "I'm fine. I just-"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to join our Gobstones competition," interrupted René, gesturing to where a group of students were sitting by the lake.

"Listen, René," said Amy, "I'll be right with you, I just have to-"

She looked back over her shoulder towards the beech tree, only to find that Harry, Ron and Hermione were now studying, and not talking about this mysterious Grawp at all. Pity.

Amy knew that she wasn't likely going to hear anything else about this. It was probably kind of like why Harry had had to talk to someone so badly that he needed to use Umbridge's fireplace. There were just some things that he wouldn't share with Amy, and she guessed that was okay. But still, something sixteen feet all? If that was a monster of some kind, it could get them into serious trouble. And not just with the Headmistress.

She was just chatting amicably with René about the Gobstones competition when suddenly someone grabbed her shoulders from behind. Her heart stopping, she spun around so fast that Erin barely had time to pull a face.

"Ha!" she exclaimed. "Got ya!"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Amy had little time to dwell on her troubled thoughts in the next few days, as May had ended and June had finally arrived, meaning that, sadly, she and every other student had to start studying for exams.

It was clear that the seventh and fifth year students had the most to be getting along with, as they would be taking their N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s respectively. Because of this, Harry, Ron and Hermione were particularly busy, and Amy had almost no chance to speak to them. Amy, Erin and Nick were actually giving them a clear field, because Hermione was likely to explode at any moment, which was getting on Ron and Harry's nerves, making them increasingly irritable.

In the meantime, they had their own exams to think about. Amy, Erin and Nick had grabbed all of their textbooks and notes and sat in a corner of the common room on the first day of June, so that they could make sure they had all the notes and organize them enough to tell which was which.

Amazingly, Hermione had found the time (though Amy suspected she had probably done so _weeks_ ago) to make a study timetable for them. They found it best to just stick to her schedule, to keep her at bay, and because it was actually helpful. Never having taken a Hogwarts exam before, none of them knew exactly how best to go about preparing for one.

"This is killing me," said Erin tiredly one night, as she, Amy and Nick were reading over their Transfiguration notes. "If I have to memorize one more technique for proper spell casting-"

"I though you had a good memory," commented Nick.

"I do," replied Erin. "I had the notes memorized almost to the letter after reading them three times, but you said that wasn't good enough."

"Well, I just think you should study more than that," he countered. "These exams are really important-"

"Correct wand movements are often essential in Transfiguration," recited Amy, interrupting them, "Because…um, because of, uh…"

Erin then recited what must have been a page of writing explaining why, exactly, wand movements were so important in Transfiguration, especially in more advanced spells, which they had not even begun to learn yet.

"Wow," breathed Amy softly.

Erin was now sitting with her head lying on her arms, which were crossed on the table. "Your turn, Nick," she said.

Nick just looked at her. "Uhh…"

"Here," offered Erin, snapping out of her napping position and grabbing her notes. "What was our first lesson in Transfiguration?"

Nick said nothing.

"Alright, then, let's review that again. We won't remember a thing if we go through them as quickly as we have been."

"Except you," muttered Nick bitterly.

Erin shot him a dark look.

Their moods did not improve as their study sessions went on. Usually, they ended up going to bed annoyed about one thing or another.

Amy's dreams were worse than ever now because of the stress of studying for exams…or, at least, she was pretty sure that was why. However, she had a dream around the second week of June that scared her more than usual… It started like they always did, with her walking down the corridor. Like the last few times, she kept advancing until she turned down a row of shelves in a gigantic room, but instead of waking up here, like she usually did, she continued to the end of the row, where she saw a man hunched over as if in pain – a familiar man, but she couldn't quite tell who. Then suddenly his image flickered, and disappeared. Then it flickered back, yet she could still see through it, to the wall behind him. Then, suddenly, as if for no reason, she woke up with a start.

"Amy! Amy, calm down!" she heard Erin's voice shushing her from beside her.

"Wh-what? I-I wasn't aware that I was panicking…" For some reason, Amy seemed oddly disconnected with everything, like it didn't make sense…

"You were screaming," replied Erin.

Suddenly, as she remembered previous incidents such as this, the world came tumbling back, and her stomach dropped.

"Where are René and Cary?" she asked Erin, as if this were the only thing that was worrying her.

"They're staying up late studying in the common room," came Erin's soft reply.

There was silence for a few moments.

"You're telling Harry, right?" asked Erin worriedly. "As soon as you can, in the morning?"

Amy's chest tightened. "If I can get the chance to even _talk_ to him."

More silence.

Amy swallowed. "Why am I so scared?" she asked her best friend, looking over at her through the darkness.

Erin sighed, and bit her lip. "I don't know, Amy, I just don't know."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Wow, another chapter done, and this one ends in a cliffhanger, sort of…or, at least, that's what I was going for…tell me if I didn't pull it off. (You can do that by sending a review! Please?)

And sorry if what they were studying seemed a little strange. It's really hard to think up exactly what they might need to know for an exam, besides _Alohomora_ and stuff.

Review………Please? It really helps me!

By the way, the ending of this chapter was edited since I first posted it, due to the fact that I keep forgetting that Dumbledore's gone…oops. Oh, well, it's fixed now.


	19. Stirring Up Trouble

A/N: If you look up… no, further…no, not as far…now to the right a bit…there, at the number of reviews, you'll see why I'm so happy. If anyone here thinks I'm pathetic, well, then, good for you. And I know the beginning of this chapter is kind of different, but I couldn't think how else to do it.

Also really sorry it took me so long to update. I swear I didn't forget. I had lots of homework and exams, and then I did a lot of stuff the first bit of summer vacation. By the way, HAPPY SUMMER VACATION! Yay.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I would use some of my money on a mission to find out if the moon is really made of cheese. Since I still don't know, you have proof that I don't own Harry Potter at all.

Dedication: Thanks to everyone!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 19: Stirring Up Trouble

Once upon a time, in a magical castle, lived many students of witchcraft and wizardry, one of whom was a young, sleep-deprived witch, and another of whom was a young, irritated wizard.

The main thing that the witch and wizard had in common as exams started was that they seemed to cause a lot of worry, intentionally or not, for their friends.

"How were your dreams last night?" Erin asked Amy the morning of their first exam, Transfiguration. What the brunette didn't know was that the young wizard's friends were wondering the same about him, although they hadn't voiced their concerns.

"Uhhh…" moaned Amy. "Worse than ever. But it's not like I can tell Dumbledore. Look, don't worry," she continued, seeing her friend's anxious face. "If we hurry, we can do a quick review of our notes before breakfast."

Erin groaned. "Fine. Come, on, let's find Nick."

As it turned out, they only had time to review half of their notes before they had to inhale some breakfast and then proceed to Professor McGonagall's classroom, where Amy sat fiddling nervously with her Anti-cheating quill for what felt like ages, but what was in reality only five minutes.

In the years to come, Amy would never fully comprehend how she had survived that first exam. Her initial thought was that it was miraculous. She came out of the Transfiguration classroom thinking she had done well on her exam, which was a peculiar feeling, and then rushed down to the Great Hall for the fastest lunch she had ever had, in order to have time to study a bit before her Charms examination.

This kind of schedule continued for several days, making everyone tired and grumpy. Even Erin's energy levels went down. Everyone was so busy that Amy didn't get a chance to talk to Harry about what had happened the night of the O.W.L. Astronomy exam. Amy and her dorm mates had woken up to shouting, and, leaning out their window, they were able to conclude that Umbridge had grouped together several henchmen and had driven Hagrid out of his hut. No one knew where he had gone or what had happened after Hagrid had fled his hut with his dog, but they did know that Professor McGonagall was in St. Mungo's, being treated for the many stunning spells that had hit her in the chest when she had tried to help Hagrid. Amy had seen almost everything from the window, but she knew Harry would have had a better view from the Astronomy Tower, and so she wanted to talk to him. Erin and Nick also seemed to be very worried about the former Gamekeeper of Hogwarts.

"She's driving them all out," concluded Erin at dinner one night through her hurried mouthfuls of mashed potato. "Everyone who's loyal to Dumbledore, anyone who'll cause a problem for the Ministry."

Amy and Nick nodded fervently in agreement, and the three of them would have engaged in a conversation had they not been in such a hurry to study for History of Magic, which was their final exam the next morning.

"I want to knock myself out with this book and not wake up for a day," announced a frustrated Erin, throwing said book across the common room.

"I doubt _that _will help you do it," muttered Amy, looking over at the textbook, which was now lying on the ground in front of a startled group of second years.

"Come on, Erin," said Nick, who had, amazingly, been able to keep calm through most of the exam period. "Pick up your book. We need to review this a few more times."

"I don't care," she replied. "I'm sick of this."

Only talking about all the things they could do after the exam persuaded Erin to continue studying until the next day, when they completed the exam without feeling that they had failed, which was quite mysterious, though comforting, and then walked out the front doors and onto the grounds, feeling as though a huge weight had suddenly been lifted.

They sat down in the shade under a tree by the lake and lay back, relaxing and watching the clouds drift by. It wasn't long until Erin started informing Amy and Nick what they all looked like.

As Nick argued that a certain cloud looked more like a lizard than a dragon, which was what Erin had proclaimed it was, Amy let her eyes close. It felt so good to just _lie_ there for a minute and do nothing. It wasn't long before she drifted into an easy half-consciousness…

Where her dream returned. This time, when she walked down the corridor, she heard hurried footsteps behind her. She tried to look back at whoever was there, but found that, as before, she couldn't move except to float weightlessly forward. The footsteps perused her all the way through the various rooms, until she came once more to the end of row ninety-seven. The man was crouched there once again, flickering and see-though, just as before. Then he suddenly lifted his head, and Amy recognised him. He was the man from her dreams of the old musty house. The one Harry had been in. When the dreams had gotten clearer she had seen this strange man all the time. And now he was hunched over in pain at the end of some row in some place Amy still didn't recognise any more than the house. And then he wasn't. He just suddenly disappeared. Then the footsteps caught up to her, and for the first time, she was able to spin around.

Harry was standing there, as well as Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna. It surprised her how clearly she could see them. And, unlike the man, they weren't flickering _or_ see-though. And then, quite suddenly and with great force, spells shot at them from all directions, small, crystal-like balls fell from the shelves, which were rocking back and forth, and shattered as they smashed into the floor.

"Harry!" she screamed, as in a whirl of colour and sound, she woke up, cold sweat on her face, and sat up so suddenly she hit the two anxious people who had been leaning over her.

"Ow!"

"My nose!"

"Oh! Amy, are you okay?"

"Of course she's not okay, dimwit, she just had another dream."

"Well, what should we do?"

"_Shut up_!" Amy screamed, quite unexpectedly, at her two friends.

They looked at her, both as pale as she was.

The sight of Erin and Nick looking so scared brought her back to her senses. Harry. She had to find him. Something was going to happen; she just knew it. He was going to be in danger, unless she stopped it. Or something like that.

"We have to find Harry," she announced feverishly.

"Er – why?" asked Erin.

"_Erin_!" scolded Nick, unimpressed with the way she was handling the situation. "Amy, why do we have to find Harry? You were just having another dream, it's okay."

"No, it's not!" yelled Amy, frustrated. "We have to find him _now_!" She scrambled hurriedly to her feet.

"Amy!" Nick pulled her back down. "It was just another dream."

"No, it wasn't!"

"Why not?" asked Erin.

"This one's _real_!"

"Amy." Erin looked at her calmly. "What did you see?"

Amy shook her head furiously. "There's no time! We have to find Harry and warn him!" She hurried to her feet again.

"What makes you so sure?" asked Nick, also getting up and grabbing her arm. "How do you know?"

Amy stopped. Why was she so sure it hadn't been a dream? Why did she think so much that her dream was going to happen? Was Harry really in any danger?

_Yes_.

She wasn't sure how, but she knew the answer with such certainty it was overwhelming. Her breathing quickened. "We have to find Harry," she repeated anxiously.

"Right, we know that, but wait," said Erin before Amy could run off. "Dumbledore."

"What?"

"Dumbledore wanted both you and Harry to report your dreams to him," she elaborated.

"Dumbledore's not _here_, Erin!" Amy was getting incredibly frustrated.

"I know, but it means that there could be something important to the dreams."

"You mean like _Harry being in danger_?"

"No, that's _not_ what I meant-"

"But Harry could be in trouble _now_," argued Amy, barely aware that her friends hardly had any idea what she was talking about. "We don't have time to argue about this! We have to find him!"

The three of them stood there for a minute, Amy glaring at Erin, who looked back at her as if trying to analyze the look in her eyes, and Nick hanging awkwardly in between.

"Okay," said Erin finally. "But then we're off to the Hospital Wing."

"Why-"

But Amy never got to complete her question, as Erin had grabbed her arm and started sprinting towards the castle, dragging her along and leaving a most confused Nick to follow.

They got a few strange glances on their way as they hurdled through the halls, but most people simply assumed they had pulled another prank and were just running from the Inquisitorial Squad. They were just passing the corridor to Umbridge's office when Amy came to an abrupt halt, causing Nick to almost run right past her, and Erin to bump into her.

"Ow!" complained Erin. "Why'd you-"

But her question was cut off by a familiar person's voice shouting, "No, sorry, you can't come down here! Someone's let off some Garrotting Gas, you'll just have to go round by the swivelling staircase!" A small group of students mumbled angrily and walked slowly away to reveal the figure of Ginny.

Amy eyed Ginny warily for a second, wondering if she was just making a diversion, when she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She jumped and turned, but only caught a glimpse of something swishing like a cloak before it was gone, seeming to disappear into thin air.

"Amy? Are you still with us?" asked Erin exasperatedly.

"Wha -? Oh, yeah…I just thought I saw something…" she paused. "I-is Harry here?" She looked out over the students milling around, and when she couldn't find him, sprinted off again, her friends hot on her heals.

They looked everywhere, but couldn't find Harry. They couldn't find Ron or Hermione either, so they didn't know who to ask for where he might be. Amy was starting to panic, something that was not helped by the fact that Erin pointed out that if Harry had already gone somewhere, he was unlikely to go without his two best friends.

"Nice one, Erin," said Nick, after Erin had made this clever observation, and made Amy more anxious that ever.

"Well, it's true! Sugar-coating the situation won't make it any better!" Erin retaliated.

"Guys…have you seen Neville, or Ginny…o-or Luna?"

Erin and Nick looked at Amy.

"Why?" asked Erin.

"Because they were in my dream, too. With Harry…"

Erin sighed. "I don't know about Luna or Neville, but we saw Ginny before, in that corridor, warning us about some kind of gas. Maybe we should go back and see if she's still there."

No sooner had the words escaped Erin's mouth than her crazy, red-haired friend was dragging her down the corridor at top speed.

They turned the corner to the corridor where Umbridge's office was located in time to see Umbridge herself marching a rather frightened looking Harry and Hermione out of it at wand-point. Harry and Hermione's robes hung on them at odd angles, and their hair was even messier than usual, making them look as though they had been held hostage rather roughly.

The moment Harry saw them, his eyes widened, and he started mouthing words to them that Umbridge couldn't see. Amy had no time to figure out what he was saying, however, because the Headmistress suddenly addressed them.

"You there! Evans, Waters, Milton! What are you doing?"

"Uh…walking?" said Amy uncertainly, still trying to understand what Harry was saying. She thought she caught the words "Snape…serious…in the…mysteries" but couldn't for the life of her understand what that was supposed to mean. She supposed neither Harry nor Hermione had their wands, and could therefore not escape Umbridge or communicate in any other fashion. Hermione, however, was making discrete motions with her hand, indicating to the door to Umbridge's office.

"Walking?" inquired Umbridge suspiciously.

"Oh, what, is that a crime now?" asked Erin in mock-innocent tones. "We're done our exams, so we were just walking up to the Owlery to send some letters, seeing as we've been too busy studying to do so in the last few weeks," she added coolly.

"Very well," Umbridge replied stiffly after a moment. "Well, hurry up, get on with it!"

"Why do you have-?" Amy began, motioning towards Harry and Hermione.

"These students have broken rules in my school and will now be punished. It is none of your business," said Umbridge, her voice deadly.

"Er – all right," replied Nick, practically dragging Amy and Erin down the corridor.

Amy noticed Hermione widen her eyes at them and Erin nod back before Umbridge prodded Harry in the back with her wand and the small party continued forward, while Nick continued to pull her and Erin back. When Harry, Hermione and Umbridge had rounded the corner, Amy grabbed her friend's arms and turned to face them.

"Did either of you catch what Harry was saying?"

Nick shook his head, but Erin said, "Something like, "tell Snape they have serious in the dep-something of mysteries."

The others stared at her.

"What?" she said. "I'm a good lip-reader."

"Well, that's good," commented Nick, "But we still can't understand what that means."

"Hermione's message was easier to understand," continued Erin. "We're supposed to look in Umbridge's office."

So the three of them went up to the Headmistress's door. Erin motioned for them to stop and pressed her ear up against it. Amy did the same. All she could hear from the room within was scuffing and shuffling. Silently, Erin drew her wand, and Amy and Nick followed suit. Then, pressing a finger to her lips, Erin opened the door.

The scene that met their eyes was a baffling one indeed. Members of the Inquisitorial Squad were crammed into the room, holding Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville in headlocks, up against the wall, or with their hands behind their back.

And so Amy reacted before they could. "Stupefy!" she yelled, hitting the Slytherin who held Ginny. Erin jinxed whoever had a hold of Neville, while Nick took on Ron's captor. Once Ginny had untangled herself from the Slytherin's robes and snatched back her wand, she joined in the battle, hitting Malfoy squarely in the face with her famous Bat-Bogey Hex.

After a few minutes of fighting, the Gryffindors, plus one Ravenclaw, managed to overcome the Slytherins, knocking them all unconscious, including Malfoy, who was in no fit state to retaliate, anyway.

"What happened?" asked Amy.

"Harry got caught trying to use Umbridge's fireplace," Ron explained hurriedly.

"Harry and Hermione are taking Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest," observed Ginny, looking out the office window.

"Why?" asked Erin, but she was interrupted by Ron.

"Look," he said. "I know you guys are worried about Harry and stuff, but this is gonna be dangerous, so-"

"Dangerous how?" asked Amy immediately.

"Harry had a dream about the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic," explained Luna, her voice as calm and dreamy as ever. "So now we're going to London to save Sirius Black."

"You mean the escaped murderer?" inquired Nick incredulously.

"No, we mean the escaped _convict_," corrected Ginny fiercely.

"Actually, he's really Stubby Boardman," announced Luna calmly.

Everyone stared at her for a second, and then Amy decided to get back to the matter at hand.

"You're running off to London?" she asked Ron.

"Yes, but you _can't come_," he replied.

Amy was about to respond angrily when he continued, "Don't worry, we've got Harry's back, but this is too dangerous for you, and Harry would kill me if I let you get in harm's way."

"But-"

"No buts. Only Harry, Hermione and I are going."

"Hey!" shouted Ginny suddenly from the corner. "I'm coming too!"

"Yes, and so are we," said Luna, indicating to herself and Neville.

Ron just gritted his teeth and said, "We'll get to that once we've found Harry and Hermione."

"We should probably go," said Neville, speaking for the first time since Amy, Erin and Nick had entered the room. "They might be in trouble."

"We want to help, too!" exclaimed Erin.

"Look," said Ron, obviously getting irritated. "I already explained that you can't-"

"Yeah, they can," said Ginny quietly, almost to herself.

"We can't bring them along!" shouted Ron, turning to his sister.

"No, but they can help! Harry's message to Snape wasn't all that clear!"

Ron's expression changed from anger to understanding and before Amy could ask what they were talking about, Ginny had come over to them and was saying, "Okay, you can't come, but we need you to do something really important. You need to get Snape and tell him that Voldemort has Sirius Black in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. Tell him to get the Order, and get Dumbledore."

"What does that-" began Erin.

"We can't tell you what it means," interrupted Ginny hurriedly. "But you have to tell him that. Now go!"

"But we-" protested Amy.

"This is really important," insisted Ron. "But you have to hurry."

Amy stood there a few seconds, fists clenched, before nodding once. "Okay."

The others nodded back and Neville said, "Oh, and thanks for helping us escape!"

"No problem!" answered Erin quickly as she left behind Amy.

Amy led her best friends down to Snape's office running as fast as her legs would let her. This was partly because this was something important that needed to be done fast, and partly because it was a good way to vent her frustration at being left behind and not being able to know what exactly was going on. She didn't even understand the message she was delivering! For Amy, it was another reminder that she was off to the side, instead of in the middle of things. She felt that she was hardly any help to Harry at all, and that made her mad.

When the group arrived at the Potion Master's office door, they all pounded on it mercilessly. Eventually they heard footsteps and the door creaked open to reveal a very irritated looking Snape.

"What, may I ask, is so important that you three felt compelled to knock down my door?" he asked them angrily.

"Can we come in?" blurted Amy urgently. "We need to tell you something."

"And you may do so without entering my office, I see nothing wrong with your mouths," he spat in return.

"Please, sir, it's important that no one else hear-" began Nick.

"Nobody cares about your miserable little lives, or what you say to me," said Snape, his voice deadly. "And if you don't just say what it is you want, I'll-"

"It's a message from Harry Potter, sir!" blurted Erin suddenly.

For a moment the three first years all stood still, wondering if saying that had been a wise move or not, but then, looking even angrier than he had before, Snape yanked open the door.

"Fine. But make it quick, I have important things to see to."

Quickly Amy, Erin and Nick stumbled into the room. As soon as the door was closed behind them they all started blurting things out again, and at the same time.

"Sir, the Department of Mysteries-"

"We have to help Harry-"

"Something about the Order-"

"_Quiet_," ordered Snape in his deadliest voice. "It is impossible to understand what you are trying to say with you all babbling away at once. You-" he said, pointing at Amy. "Why are you in my office?"

Amy took a deep breath, determined not to be afraid of the way Snape was staring down at them. "Sir, we have a message from Harry Potter and his friends." Snape said nothing, but continued glaring, so she went on. "They say that Sirius Black is being held by Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic and that you're supposed to get the Order and Dumbledore."

"Do not say the Dark Lord's name!" spat Snape angrily. Before they could respond, he continued, "And do not try to order me around. I already knew of this. Although Potter's code was decisively moronic, I was able to understand him without assistance."

"But Ron said-" began Nick.

"I do not care what Mr. Weasley said. He should not have given you the message. You are not supposed to know about Black or the Order-"

"Oh, we don't," Erin assured him. "We have no idea what the message means, really, we're just delivering it."

Snape stared down at them coolly for what felt like ages, before finally nodding and saying curtly, "I have business that I must see to. You three," he continued, as Amy opened her mouth, "Are to stay inside my office-"

"But, sir," interrupted Erin, "We were wondering if we might take Amy to the Hospital Wing, her head hurts and-"

"Very well, but stay there. This dangerous business does not concern you."

"But sir!" protested Amy. "Harry is in trouble and I want to help-"

"You've already done what you can," said Snape calmly, silencing her. "This is dangerous, and I cannot allow you to get involved in it. Now up to the Hospital Wing!" he added, seeing that they were all keen on arguing his point. "Go!"

Professor Snape ended up escorting them all the way to the Hospital Wing to ensure they didn't run off, something that annoyed Amy very much. There was no chance she, Erin and Nick could get away from him like this.

When they arrived at the Hospital Wing, Snape spoke to Madame Pomfrey, undoubtedly telling her that she couldn't let them leave.

So now, Amy was sitting on a bed (Madame Pomfrey had insisted she have a look at her when she had heard about her vision) with Erin and Nick sitting on chairs beside her, scowling under the watchful eye of the school matron. It was very frustrating.

"I just wish we could do something to help," whispered Amy to her friends. "I hate just sitting here, Harry and everyone are in real trouble!"

"I know," said Nick, "But we don't really understand anything about the situation. We have no idea what this "Order" is, or what it has to do with Sirius Black, or even Harry, for that matter! We don't even know what or where the Department of Mysteries exactly is. What could we possibly do to help, even if we _could_ get out of here?"

"I don't know!" she replied, clenching her fists around the bed sheets. "But I can't just sit here doing nothing! It'll drive me crazy! I don't care if we're out of the loop, or whatever, I want to help!"

"Well, so do I but-"

"Maybe we can," interrupted Erin.

"How's that?" asked Nick, as Amy spun her head around to look at her other friend. "We're not involved in any of this. We're not even properly informed!"

"No," Erin agreed. "But we're informed enough. The message Ron gave us said that Voldemort and his gang of Death Eaters trapped Sirius in the Department of Mysteries. By the sounds of it, Harry and his friends are out to rescue him."

"So? We can't go with them," Nick pointed out.

"But we also know that the Department of Mysteries is in the Ministry of Magic building," continued Erin. "We could go there, try and get some help. Even get into the Auror office."

"But the Ministry doesn't believe that Voldemort is back," Nick pointed out.

"We just won't tell them it's him," she said.

"That's pretty risky. And there might not be anyone there at this hour. Besides, we don't even know where the Ministry of Magic building _is_," said Nick.

"We don't have to," replied Erin.

"Floo powder," whispered Amy, catching on to Erin's plan. "If we create a distraction, we might be able to make it out into an office with a fireplace," she continued quietly, so that Madame Pomfrey wouldn't hear.

"McGonagall's is just down the corridor," remarked Erin.

"But what about Sirius Black?" asked Nick.

"What about him?" asked Amy.

"He's running from the law. Obviously, if we get people from the Ministry of Magic to help, they'll try and catch him, something Harry obviously wouldn't want."

"We just won't mention him," suggested Erin.

"Right."

"But what if they notice him?" asked Nick.

"That's a chance we'll have to take," replied Amy.

"But-"

"People could be dying!" said Amy as loudly as she dared. "Our friends are headed into trouble, and we should help them! We have to take that chance!"

"What if-?" began Nick.

"What if what?"

"What if Harry doesn't need our help? What if we'd just get in the way, or make things worse?"

Amy thought about that for a moment. Perhaps Nick had a point. But hadn't Harry said himself that sometimes he only survived because he took a lucky guess, or because help had come at the right moment?

"We don't even have that much of a plan," continued Nick.

Amy sighed. Nick had good reasoning, but her resolve held. "We'll just have to wing it," she said determinedly.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Ha! I finally updated! But it's summer, so I'm giving myself a break. This was originally going to be longer, but I decided to split it into two chapters.

Please review! Come, on, it's getting exciting!


	20. Winging It

A/N: Hey guys! I've posted another story since my last update! Thanks to all those who checked it out! Sorry for taking so long to update, but school sucks. Blame it.

**Important:** This is my second to last chapter::Gasp:: But don't worry, it will have a sequel. The only thing is, before I post the sequel, I'm going to re-edit the entire fic. Hopefully it won't take too long. By the way, because _One Last Hope_ is a trilogy (did I mention that?), I'm going to be changing the name of this fic from _One Last Hope_ to _One Last Hope: Dumbledore's Army_. Don't worry, though: the story will be the same.

Disclaimer: I _do not_ own Harry Potter, for the last time! Or the second last, anyway…:)

Dedication: To all those who reviewed _The Death Eater Club_. You guys rock!

Enjoy!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

One Last Hope

Chapter 20: Winging It

Amy waited quietly and tried to be patient as she fiddled with the corner of her pillow, which she held between her chest and her legs that she hugged close to her body. She had already thrown the covers to the end of the bed in agitation, and now she listened with all her might for the one sound she so desperately wanted to hear.

She had almost made a hole from fiddling with her pillowcase when she heard it: the sound of a foghorn. How Erin had managed to get her hands on one, Amy didn't know, but didn't much care as suddenly she shot a _Reducto_ curse at a bedside table on the opposite side of room, using it as a diversion to leap out of bed and escape Madame Pomfrey's watchful eye.

Once out of the Hospital Wing, Amy sprinted down the hall to Professor McGonagall's office. As soon as she was inside, Erin shut the door behind her and Nick was saying, "We don't have much time, Peeves doesn't keep McGonagall occupied for very long these days." Nick had finally agreed to help Amy and Erin with their "plan" to go to the Ministry when they had threatened to go without him.

"Right," said Amy. "Floo Powder…Does anyone see it?"

"Here," replied Erin, taking a vase from the mantelpiece and sniffing it. "Found it."

Nick gave Erin a disdainful look for smelling the powder before turning to Amy. "You realise the Network is being watched. Ministry workers will probably know we're breaking rules by coming as soon as we get there."

"Which means we'll be able to find someone and explain the situation much more quickly," commented Erin.

"Besides, it's too risky trying to get back to Umbridge's office. Madame Pomfrey will be looking for us."

"Which is why we have to hurry," said Nick, taking a pinch of Floo Powder.

"Where do you think we'll end up in the Ministry building?" asked Amy, also taking a pinch.

"Don't know," he replied. "I've never tried this before."

"Let's find out then," said Amy, trying to keep her voice calm and stepping in front of the fireplace. She took a deep breath, threw her powder into the crackling flames, stepped inside them, and, bracing herself, shouted, "Ministry of Magic!"

Next thing she knew, Amy was spinning out of control through green flames and past glimpses of rooms beyond other fireplaces. She had never actually used Floo Powder before, but she remembered the instructions Jeremy had given her when he had come to tell her she was a witch all those months ago. Now, although she had known exactly what to do and had entered the Floo Network properly, she found herself completely unprepared for dizziness so severe that when she finally fell out of the fireplace and landed on a floor, she thought she was on the ceiling. Her confusion increased as Erin landed beside her, shook her head a few times, got up, and pulled Amy out of the way so that she wouldn't be flattened by Nick, who came shooting out next.

It took a minute or two for Amy's world to stop spinning, but when it did she took a look at where she was. It appeared that she was in a long hall, with a dark polished wooden floor, and a high blue ceiling with moving gold symbols on it. The walls were also made of a shiny wood, and held a great number of fireplaces on each side of the hall, presumably for Floo-ing to and from the Ministry, just as they had done. What caught Amy's eye was the huge fountain in the middle of the hall, in which stood the golden statues of a witch, a wizard, a goblin, a centaur and a house-elf, all with water shooting out of their wands, ears, hats or arrows, making the only noise in the entire hall that of the water splashing.

"So…now what?" asked Erin, voicing the obvious question.

"Maybe we should find Harry," suggested Amy tentatively, hoping they would agree. She just wanted to find her cousin and warn him.

Her hopes were squashed when Nick said, "We already know that's not a good idea. We should just stick to the plan."

"I'd hardly call it a _plan_," remarked Erin, rolling her eyes. "But we have to find someone who could help. Now, who would be here at this hour?"

"Oh, I don't know!" replied Amy nervously. She was starting to panic again. "Maybe we should just wander around until we find someone."

"Some people are bound to be working late," reasoned Nick.

He started down the hall, and the girls followed. They were almost at the other end when Erin stopped them by putting out her arm. "Don't move," she warned.

All three of them looked over at a wizard sleeping at his desk, underneath a sign saying _Security_, with a copy of the _Evening Prophet_ still in his hands.

"Should we wake him up?" asked Nick.

"No," said Amy. "He might not help. He's probably here to stop people like us from intruding."

"I thought they'd have magical charms and stuff for that," he replied.

"Well, yes," answered Erin. "But we came in by Floo Powder, and that's aloud." She looked over the things around the desk. "We're probably just supposed to sign in here, or something, so they know exactly who's here at all times…. He might not let us go get help."

Silently they crept past the snoring wizard until they reached a set of golden gates, which they slipped through. On the other side was a smaller hall with what seemed to be a bunch of elevators with golden grills along the walls.

"Come, on," said Erin, waving them over towards one of these. "Let's find the Auror department, they're probably our best bet."

Without further ado Erin strode into an elevator and waited while Amy and Nick followed cautiously after. The grill closed behind them and the lift began to climb slowly upwards. Amy jumped as she heard a cool female voice say, "Level Seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club and Ludicrous Patents Office," just as the doors opened out onto a view of an untidy corridor, adorned with several Quidditch, and even Gobstones posters on the walls, hanging lopsidedly.

_This is where René's mother must work_, thought Amy, remembering the time her friend had told her that her mum worked in the British Quidditch League Headquarters.

No one got on the lift, as no one was in the corridor. The place was eerily silent. Soon, however, the doors closed and the lift ascended once more.

The three friends rode the elevator quietly for the next few seconds, before Amy burst out, no longer able to hold in the question that had been bothering her for some time now, "Why don't you think Harry told us about Sirius?"

Erin and Nick glanced at each other briefly before turning to her.

"He can't tell you everything, you said so yourself," Nick pointed out.

"But this is really important!"

"Which is probably why he didn't tell you," concluded Erin. "You know what he's like, he doesn't want you involved in this sort of thing."

"Why not?" sighed Amy, frustrated.

"Most likely so we wouldn't do something like this," Nick commented.

Erin nodded. "Still," she said slowly, "Since Sirius Black _is_ an escaped convict, you'd think he'd at least give us a head's up."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Amy. "I know he can't tell me everything, but knowing why he's such good friends with the man who supposedly betrayed his parents is kind of crucial!"

"Level Four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beasts, Being and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office and Pest Advisory Bureau."

"So you don't think Sirius betrayed Harry's parents then?" asked Nick.

"I don't know! That's why I'd like to!"

"…. Do you think anyone else knows…like Ron and Hermione?" Nick wondered aloud.

"Well," said Erin. "I'd think so, Harry hardly has any adventures without them."

"Wait…. Wasn't Black supposed to have entered Hogwarts somehow a few years ago?" asked Amy.

"Yeah…" agreed Nick. "You're right."

Suddenly Erin's eyes went wide and she hurriedly bit her lip.

"What's up?" asked Amy quickly.

"Huh?" Erin looked slightly startled. "Oh…nothing…"

Both Amy and Nick raised their eyebrows at her.

"Well, it's not important right now," she said impatiently with a wave of her hand. "I'll tell you later."

They continued to look at her strangely while the cool female voice announced, "Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services."

"This is us," announced Erin, dragging the other two out of the elevator, ignoring their sideways glances in her direction.

They walked cautiously down the corridor, wincing at the sharp sound their shoes made against the floor.

"Which way now?" asked Amy nervously, deciding to disregard what Erin wasn't telling them for the moment. None of them had ever been to the Auror department.

"They really should have signs," commented Erin, "For situations such as this."

"I highly doubt anyone at the Ministry would think of such an absurd situation as this."

"Absurd? You need a brighter outlook on things, I've always said this."

"Erin," said Amy, beginning to get exasperated. "As much as you may be right, this really isn't the time-"

"This way," interrupted Erin, pointing to the right, and walking towards a set of oak doors.

"How do you know?" inquired Nick.

"I don't," the brunette replied. "I just think it would be a good place to start looking. You know, Amy, this would be a really great time for one of your handy-dandy dream-things."

"I can't control the dreams I get," answered Amy, annoyed. "Now, if you wanted to know how to get to a creepy cathedral place through this door down a really dark hallway, that wouldn't be such a problem."

"Hmmm," Erin replied. "Unfortunately, that would be a rather dangerous venture."

"_This_ is a rather dangerous venture," Nick pointed out.

"Oh, look," said Erin as they reached the end of the hall and she opened the doors, "I was right."

She pulled them open wider and Amy and Nick looked inside as well. Before them stretched a huge expanse of cubicles, the closest of which bore the sign "Auror Department".

"How did you do that?" asked Nick incredulously, but Erin put a finger to her lips and followed as Amy led the way through the deadly quiet room.

Suddenly she stopped and swayed on the spot. Pictures flashed through her mind: Harry opening the mysterious door; Ron and Hermione running after him down an isle, the scene from her dream with the smashing orbs…

"Amy, are you okay?" asked Erin worriedly, as Nick grabbed Amy's shoulder to steady her.

"Wha- oh, it's nothing…" muttered Amy, looking at the concerned faces of her friends. "Just a mild vision, or something." Her stomach twisted itself into a painful knot as she realised that her dream could be coming true this very second. "Come on, we – we should hurry."

Her friends nodded and they tiptoed through the rows of cubicles, keeping their heads low and checking each one for someone to talk to for about two minutes, but found no one. Eventually, Erin gave an exasperated sigh and stood up straight. "We're just wasting time this way," she said impatiently.

"That's why I said we should go to the Department of Mys-" whispered Amy, but Nick cut her off.

"We all know why that's not a good idea-"

"_Hello_?" shouted Erin quite suddenly into the otherwise silent room, making the other two jump. "Is anyone here? Hello? We need help!"

"_Erin_!" said Nick, a look of panic on his face, as several footsteps made their way towards them.

"We wanted to find someone, and this is the quickest way," she explained calmly.

"But what will we tell them?"

"Hey! Hey, you three, are you supposed to be here?" said a voice coming quickly towards them.

"Excellent!" exclaimed Erin.

"It's late, are you here with someone?" said another voice from just behind them.

"Oh, no," moaned Amy, realizing they were surrounded.

"How did you three get here?" asked a man with thick, mane-like hair that reminded Amy of a lion. He sounded genuinely concerned, if not a little accusatory.

"Is one of your parents working late?" asked the woman with extremely long brown hair to their right, looking at them curiously.

Before the third Auror, a young man with blue eyes and a scare across his left cheek, could open his mouth to say something similar, Erin said loudly, "Actually, there's a bit of a situation downstairs that we may need your help with. It's kind of an emergency."

"An emergency?" asked the first man.

"Um, yes," stammered Amy. "There are people, uh, downstairs, who might be in a lot of trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"The dangerous kind," answered Nick, looking as though he was trying to sound braver than he felt.

"Downstairs?" asked the woman. "You mean, in the Atrium?"

"Um, no," said Amy. "Uh, in, um…the Department of Mysteries." She said the last part very fast so as not to lose her nerve.

Amy knew immediately that it had not been a good thing to say. Suddenly, all three adults were looking at them strangely, as though they could not possibly have heard her correctly.

"The Department of Mysteries?" asked the first man again, the one who seemed to be in charge. "Why would you say such a thing?"

As Amy and Nick tried to think of something that would explain their predicament in a way three adults who did not believe Voldemort was back would understand, Erin sighed drastically.

"Because Voldemort and his Death Eaters set a trap down there and her cousin Harry Potter is headed straight into it," she said, pointing at Amy.

As Amy and Nick whirled around to look at Erin accusingly, the younger man and woman suddenly burst out laughing, only to stop abruptly with a sharp look from the man who was presumably their boss.

"Come with me," he said, very solemnly, letting the first years know they were in _deep_ trouble.

"Where are we going?" chirped Erin as the younger man and woman began herding them in the direction their boss was walking.

"To see the Minister for Magic."

"Really?" asked Amy, shocked, as Nick's mouth dropped open.

"Oh, excellent!" exclaimed Erin. This awarded her strange looks from all those around, but she seemed unfazed.

"Mr. Scrimgeour…" began the younger man tentatively. "I-is it really necessary to take them to-"

"I'm supposed to take anyone in the Ministry who believes that He Who Must Not Be Named is alive to see the Minister himself," replied the man called Scrimgeour curtly.

"But surely…they're just children…"

"My instructions come from the Minister himself," said Scrimgeour in a tone that indicated the discussion was over.

"Why is getting sent to see the Minister excellent?" Amy whispered to Erin, terrified.

"We're making a fuss," she replied. "If we make enough of a fuss, especially for the Minister, they'll have to do _something_."

"Like kick us out?" suggested Nick bluntly.

"Erin, we're running out of time…this wasn't part of the plan-"

"I thought we were just winging it," said Erin, smirking.

Amy just looked back at her friend, dumbfounded, amazed that she could be so calm in this kind of situation. She was sure Nick wasn't handling it nearly as well, because aside from the fact that his face had drained of all colour and his hands were balled into fists, he would usually have had a comeback for Erin.

The rest of the walk to the Minister's office was a sort of hazy blur for Amy, who found herself in a bit of a daze. They walked back to the elevator and went up to "Level One, Minister for Magic and Support Staff" and walked down a huge, seemingly never-ending hallway with doors set at equal intervals on each side as far as she could see, until suddenly, out of nowhere, Amy found herself facing a door.

Scrimgeour walked through it, leaving his younger associates to wait nervously outside with the first years. Amy could tell they thought the situation was ridiculous, and probably would like nothing more than to send the three of them straight back to Hogwarts.

She turned to them. "How did you find us so fast? The second Erin called out you had us surrounded. Was that because you watch the fireplaces?"

The man nodded, looking uncomfortable at being addressed by the young redhead, but the woman smiled nervously and said, "Yes, but as so many Ministry employees travel to and from here by the Floo Network, we weren't alerted. We were working late and heard your friend's voice. When we looked over and saw you three, we wondered what was going on and came over."

"You came over real fast," commented Amy.

The woman smiled again and shrugged. "We're trained to."

After that there was silence except for the voices on the other side of the door. Amy could tell what Erin was thinking: if only their guards would walk away so she could use the Extendable Ears that were undoubtedly stuffed in the pockets of her robes. However, the conversation did not last long, and soon there was complete silence. For a long while the odd group waited outside that large, intimidating oak wood door, looking extremely out of place, before at last, a man they had not seen before with a large nose and almost no hair opened the door a crack and stuck his head out. "The Minister will see you now," he announced, looking curiously at the three first years in front of him.

Suddenly Amy gasped and clapped a hand to the searing pain in her forehead. She saw Ron get hit with a curse, Ginny fall (she even heard a loud crack, which she was sure was Ginny's ankle braking), Luna shooting some spell or another at an unseen figure, Hermione getting hit with some kind of purple flame…

When the pictures stopped playing through her head as if on a movie screen, Amy realised she was still in front of the large oak door, and was bent double with her head in her hands. Erin and Nick each had a strong grip on one of her arms.

"Er – are…are you all right?" asked the man in the doorway as Amy stood up. The young Aurors behind her looked worried, too.

"I-I'm fine…" said Amy weakly, rubbing her forehead. When she realized what she was doing, she snatched her hand away. "I'm fine," she said more forcefully, looking around at everyone.

"Yes, well…in you come," said the man at the doors nervously.

He stepped out and ushered them all into the room, which was much more cramped than Amy had expected it to be, but soon found out why. They were in what appeared to be a secretary's office. There was a small wooden desk just in front of them with filing cabinets behind it along the walls on either side, an extremely worn rug on the floor, and a few paintings of landscapes adorning the bits of wall with no piece of paper, plaque, or framed newspaper headline stuck to it. Further behind the desk were magnificent cherry oak double doors that were so highly polished they made the rest of the room seem dim despite the lamp that was swinging gently from the ceiling.

"This way please," said the secretary, leading them past the desk and towards the highly polished double doors, which somehow Amy suddenly found very intimidating. The man knocked on the door and a voice answered, "Yes, yes, are they here yet?" rather rudely, but the man before them simply opened the door and shoved Amy, Erin and Nick into the room before snapping the door shut behind them.

The room, it appeared, was the Minister for Magic's office, and was more what Amy had been expecting: huge, with a grand dark wood desk, a fireplace you could have fit through on piggy-back, an elaborate rug on the hardwood floor, a large tapestry on the wall facing them, behind the desk, and a surly looking Fudge (who seemed to be much shorter and portlier than Amy had thought he would be) sitting in front of it, wearing his pyjamas and looking quite as though he would still like to be in bed.

For a moment there was silence except for the merrily crackling fire, which ironically seemed to be achieving exactly the opposite of mirroring the room's atmosphere.

Finally, because it seemed she couldn't stand the silence any longer, Erin spoke. "So…nice place you got here," she commented casually.

Nick looked as though he might faint.

Fudge clenched his fists. "Now don't you be smart with me, miss…er – miss-"

"Christopher," Erin lied unblinkingly.

"Well, miss Christopher, it would appear that you and your friends are in somewhat of a pickle."

"Seems so," Erin replied calmly, with a shrug of her shoulders to show her lack of concern.

It was right about then that Amy noticed that it bugged her very much how arrogant and pompous the Minister was being, and how smugly Scrimgeour, who was standing beside the desk, was looking at them.

"Yes," agreed the Minister. "Because for some reason, instead of being at school, where you belong, you are coming to the Ministry, bothering the employees and trying to get us to believe that You-Know-Who is back and attacking more students within the building." He chuckled darkly. "I'm afraid that whether this is a prank or not, you three are facing expulsion."

At that, Nick bit his lip so hard Amy was sure it was going to bleed before she was attacked with a fresh set of visions, accompanied by a blinding headache. _There was what seemed to be a battle; Harry and Neville were trying to get out of the way as Death Eaters and people she had only seen in dreams shot curses at one another_. This time, however, she made her best effort possible to stay standing, instead of keeling over.

"Yes, a bit of a shock, I presume," continued the Minister, mistaking Amy's blinking and staggering for fear.

"Actually, that's not really the pickle we're worried about," Erin went on smoothly. "You see, right now, we're more worried about all the Death Eaters down in the Department of Mysteries."

"Now that's going to far," said Scrimgeour angrily. Apparently, he thought lying to the Minister was simply unforgivable.

Amy was sure Erin would have laughed at the look on his face if it weren't for the fact that they weren't lying at all.

"Ah!" Amy cried out loud, no longer able to hold out against the images that were making her vision blur. The world seemed to fall away, and all that existed was the man from her dreams falling slowly, ever so slowly and painfully through a black curtain, and the splitting pain in her forehead that seemed to be coming from her scar. Then Amy jolted back to her surroundings as a realization hit her: she didn't have a scar.

As the world came rushing back, Amy saw that she was on the floor; how she had gotten there, she neither knew nor cared. All she cared about was getting to Harry.

"We have to go!" she screamed at no one in particular, or perhaps at everyone. "It's getting worse, we have to go _now_!"

"What – what's wrong with this girl?" Fudge, who was now standing in front of them, asked Erin and Nick, seemingly unable to focus on anything else.

"Don't be silly!" shot Scrimgeour, who, unlike his boss, seemed quite set on the subject at hand. "That's enough of your jokes, you're already facing expulsion and having your parents come here to-"

"Well, then it's a good thing I don't have any that would come!" Amy spat back, jumping angrily to her feet. "This isn't something we can discuss, people are in danger-"

"No one is in danger," Fudge said calmly, but defiantly as the red slowly drained from Scrimgeour's face, "You-Know-Who is dead, he-"

"No he's not," said Nick, stepping forward and glaring at the Minister. Perhaps it was this that made Fudge stop and consider the seriousness of the situation for a second. He wasn't being screamed at by an angry girl, or being calmly informed by an indifferent girl, but being told in a voice that removed all doubt by a shy, quiet boy who looked absolutely terrified that Lord Voldemort was back, and that seemed to make him realize for the first time that it wasn't a prank, that what he might have always known in the back of his mind was true, and that his world could very well be crumbling around him.

But then he seemed to shake himself and said. "No…no – it couldn't possibly be-"

But he was cut short by an enormous boom that thundered up to them from below, shaking the very floor and vibrating through them.

"You sure about that?" asked Erin.

Before the others could answer her, another vibration was sent through the building, although it was much more like a jolt than a thundering boom, and with this one came a blinding pain in Amy's head, as blurred visions flashed so fast through her mind that she couldn't make any of them out.

"What was that?" asked Scrimgeour sharply.

"That's your dead Voldemort trying to blow the place up," said Erin darkly.

"It is no such-" spluttered Fudge, before the Auror interrupted him.

"We need to check it out," he said, looking at the Minister. "I'll call some backup Aurors, and we'll get down there." He strode towards the door, then looked back, saying, "Please stay here," to Fudge in a tone that made it clear that he wasn't asking at all, only he couldn't give the Minister orders.

Fudge looked quite indignant at being told what to do, but clearly thought it wasn't worth the risk to go down to see what was going on.

"Uhhhh…" groaned Amy, as the pain in her head reduced to a persistent throbbing ache.

"Er – is she going to be…what's wrong with her?" asked Fudge awkwardly, indicating to Amy.

"Um…well, we're not quite sure…" answered Nick nervously.

"Harry!" screamed Amy suddenly.

"What is it?" asked Erin, stepping over to Amy and grabbing both her hands. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," answered Amy, gasping for a reason she didn't understand. "I couldn't see properly, but he's in trouble," she finished, knowing Erin's question had referred to what was going on downstairs, and not why Amy's head suddenly hurt.

Erin took a deep breath. "Alright," she said, determined. "We're going. Nick, come on." She reached out for his arm to pull him to the door only to find he was already there. Raising her eyebrows in surprise, she took Amy's wrist instead and pulled her through the double doors that Nick was holding open.

"Now – now wait just one minute!" spluttered Fudge, hobbling angrily after them. "You'll stay here if I say s – hey! Wait up!" And he trudged, frustrated, after the three first years, as they continued to head through the next room and down the corridor, ignoring him completely.

They ran towards the elevator and got in, waiting patiently for it to start its decent. Fudge, however, made it into the elevator after them just before the doors closed.

"You could have just stayed there, this could be dangerous," Erin told the Minister.

"Well, I couldn't just let you three get away, you have to be punished!" shouted an irritated Fudge, waving his hands about.

His only answer was an unwavering death glare from Erin. An awkward silence descended on the group. Amy could see that Fudge was worrying about what he was going to do when the doors opened. Then suddenly she snapped her eyes shut as the pain in her head heightened again.

"Are you going to be okay?" Nick whispered worriedly next to her, keeping an eye on Erin from his place in between the two girls.

"I…I think so…" Amy whispered back, her fists clenched against the pain. She staggered against the elevator wall.

"We don't know what's going to be out there," Nick continued. "Are you going to be able to look out for yourself or should we stay in here?"

"We're going out!" Amy said determinedly. "I'll be fine."

"Actually, all three of you will be staying in the elevator with me when we reach the Atrium, and then we're going back up to the first floor where we'll be safe," said Fudge, glaring significantly at them.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," replied Erin indifferently, with a wave of her hand.

"The Atrium," announced the female voice just then.

The elevator doors opened and they heard shouts from beyond the golden gates. Without hesitation Amy rushed out into the hall, Erin and Nick right after her, despite the Minister's best efforts.

The scene that met their eyes when they passed the gates was one none of them would ever forget, and one that would haunt Amy's nightmares for many years to come. Harry was lying screaming on the floor, his face twisted in agony, with Dumbledore standing protectively over him, looking scarier than Amy had ever thought he could be, Death Eaters were watching in awe and glee from the sides, and Voldemort, his own face contorted in either pain or rage, or perhaps both, was standing in the middle of it all. And them it hit Amy: that was Voldemort. He was standing not twenty feet from her, and could easily kill her in a heartbeat.

But before she could feel anything but shock, blinding, searing pain in her head, worse than anything she could have imagined, overtook her. She collapsed to the floor, or at least, that's what she thought was happening, because suddenly her side hurt as well. And then there wasn't room to think anymore, only pain. More visions flashed through her mind. _A giant snake curled around Harry, chocking him; Voldemort rising from a huge cauldron; constant flashes of green light; maniacal laughter…_

She tried to fight it, tried to open her eyes and pushed herself up onto her elbows. She only just managed to lift her eyes when they met a pair of red ones. Voldemort looked right at her, into her eyes.

Right at that instant, before she could call out Harry's name, or see her friends rushing towards her, or the beam of green light that just barely missed her, Amy's world went black.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: **If you didn't read the (important!)** **author's note at the top, go do that. It's important. Really!**

Wheeeeeee! One more chappie! Aren't you excited? You could tell me in a review, you know, if you wanted to…

Anyway, this is my longest chapter yet, ending in yet another cliffhanger. I hope it was exciting enough. I know Amy didn't really get to be in the battle, but that's part of the point, and an issue that will be brought up later…. And I know there wasn't a security person there in the books, but Amy, Erin and Nick showed up some time later than Harry.

And sorry again for the slow updating, but I've been busy, and getting lots of homework. :(


	21. The Second War Begins

A/N: Tadaa! My final chapter! (of this part). I did get a review from someone saying that they actually had no idea this would be a trilogy. Sorry about that! I probably wasn't clear, but like I say on my profile page, this fic is going to be _very_ long. Sorry if any of you wonderful readers don't like super long fics, but that's just the way this story is planned out. (I did planning! I'm so proud:))

And now is time for me to apologise for my huge lack of updating recently. But school just keeps getting in the way, I was sick, and then my computer crashed….and I just _hate_ editing. SOOOO sorry to keep you guys waiting! (I don't know if anyone was, but it makes me feel better to think so). So I over-compensated. This is a _long_ chapter.

Important: It is really very important to note that the name of this fic will be changed to _One Last Hope: Dumbledore's Army_, and that there _will_ be a sequel. For more information regarding this, please see Chapter 20's Important! a/n.

Disclaimer: For the final time…._I do not own Harry Potter_!…Wow, that felt good.

Dedicated: This final chappie is dedicated to _everyone_ who has _ever_ read, reviewed, supported, given advise for, listened to my ramblings about, or even just _looked_ at this fic! There are no words to describe how cool you are. ::tear::

Wow, this is getting really long…and kinda sappy.

Anyway, for the last time in One Last Hope: Dumbledore's Army,

Enjoy!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

_One Last Hope_

_Chapter 21: The Second War Begins_

Suddenly there were voices, coming out of nowhere. Some were loud, some were quiet, some were worried, others were calm…but they all seemed terribly noisy and irritating, crawling their way into her mind like unwelcome pests. She tried to push them away and shut them out, to drift back off to sleep and that wonderful world of nothingness, but they wouldn't let her, and before she realised it, she was wondering where she was, what was going on, and trying to remember what had last happened. It was terribly confusing, and she wasn't really thinking straight… probably due to semi-consciousness…. Then with a jerk a pair of dark red eyes flashed through her mind and terrified her into snapping up straight and opening her eyes.

"Amy!"

At the sound of her name, Amy shrieked so loudly that everyone around her jumped as high as she did. Her first instinct was to grab her wand, and she fumbled through her robes for it, grabbing madly at the cloth without pausing even a fraction of a second to take in her surroundings.

"Don't be silly, Amy, it's us!" said a voice, as a hand grabbed the wand Amy had finally retrieved out of her grasp. Amy snapped her hand forward to snatch it back, panicking, convinced that for some reason she needed it, when she looked up and her eyes met the friendly multi-coloured ones of Erin Waters.

"Wha-" Amy stopped, her heart pounding, and looked around. She was in the Hospital Wing, on a bed. Exactly the same one she had occupied only hours before, she realized, before thinking that this small detail was such a funny thing to notice first when there were people around her bed that she cared about looking at her as though she'd gone mad. She giggled, oddly relieved, and looked up at their faces. There was Erin, smiling and standing beside her with a firm grip on her hand, Harry, his face lined with worry, Neville, biting his lip, Luna, looking the way she always did, Madame Pomfrey, seemingly calculating how pale she was, Hagrid, looking tremendously anxious even though they had only met once before, and finally Dumbledore, his blue eyes twinkling.

"Oh," sighed Amy, relaxing. She paused. "I didn't think this many people were aloud in the hospital wing," she added, looking over at Madame Pomfrey.

This seemed to worry everyone more, except Harry, whose lip twitched, Dumbledore, who smiled, and Luna, who asked the school nurse calmly, "Has she gone insane?"

"No, no," Madame Pomfrey reassured them briskly. "She's just in a bit of shock, I presume…after what happened and all, and now she's waking up so suddenly…Really, Potter's already in here every month for Quidditch and the like, and now I've got his cousin in here for some crazy stunt that I wouldn't have put passed him…" And she went off back to her office, presumably for supplies, muttering to herself.

"Where's everyone else?" Amy asked, her chest tightening, although she remained strangely calm. "Are they okay?"

"They will be," said a reassuring voice to the right, and Erin moved so that Amy could see Hermione on the bed next to her, smiling sadly.

"What…what happened?" asked Amy, blinking. She was finding it unusually difficult to form complete sentences.

"You passed out," explained Erin.

"Oh." This did not seem particularly troublesome to Amy. "Well, that makes sense. What about everyone else?"

"Nick is there," Luna informed her calmly, pointing to the bed on Amy's left side. "He was knocked out by a spell, Madame Pomfrey says he'll recover fully in a day or two. Ron is over there," she pointed across the room, "He hasn't woken up yet, but Madame Pomfrey says not to worry, he will soon. Ginny's beside him," (Neville shifted to the side so that Amy could see the disgruntled looking redhead sitting up in her bed with her arms crossed), "…and she's perfectly alright."

"Hi Ginny," Amy said happily, smiling at her. A thought suddenly occurred to her. "Was I given a sleepy potion or something? I think I'm unnaturally calm." As if to illustrate her point, her tone of voice resembled one that someone might use to talk about the weather.

"Yes, you were muttering in your sleep, tossing and turning, even shouting out at times," replied Madame Pomfrey, bustling over with some potions. "I gave you a sleeping draught to calm you and let you rest. You're simply experiencing a side-effect."

Amy nodded. She looked over at Dumbledore, who smiled kindly at her.

"Am I going to be expelled?" she asked calmly.

"Of course not," the Headmaster replied, equally as calm.

"Am I getting suspended?"

"No."

"Oh…. Then why are you here?"

"Simply to check up on my students, and make sure they're on the mend," said Dumbledore sincerely.

"Thank you," said Amy. "But I meant, why are you in the castle…you weren't here before, were you?"

Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling again. It amazed Amy how much they could do that. "No, I wasn't," he replied, answering her question. "But recently something came to light and the Ministry wanted me back again. Funny how quickly their opinions can change."

"And you," continued Amy, nodding at Hagrid, "Did they hurt your dog?"

"Wha'?" asked Hagrid, looking surprised at being addressed.

"You carried your dog away from your cabin that night. Is he okay?"

"O – o' yeah, Fang's alrigh'."

Amy sighed. "Good."

"Here, take this," Madame Pomfrey said, shoving a glass into Amy's hands. "It's for the pain."

"Pain?"

"In your head."

"Oh, yeah," said Amy, vaguely remembering that, and taking the potion. "Urghlh." She stuck out her tongue and shivered: it tasted worse than sardine Every Flavour Beans.

"I still don't see why _I_ can't get out of bed," Ginny spoke up angrily from the other side of the room. "You fixed my broken ankle in a heartbeat!"

"You need to _rest_," Madame Pomfrey said, placing emphasis on the word. "Don't argue."

"Neville got hurt, but you're not making _him_ rest!" yelled Ginny, unwilling to comply.

"That's because I know _he'll_ get some rest without me having to supervise," answered the matron, glaring at her patient.

"I just broke my ankle!" said Ginny angrily, but Madame Pomfrey ignored her.

"Hey," Amy spoke up again, remembering. "I saw that happen. I think it was in a vision or something…"

Suddenly the room became very quite and everyone looked worriedly at her.

"What?" she asked, completely confused.

"I now ask that Harry and I be left alone with Amy," said Dumbledore solemnly.

"But sir-"

"No!"

"I _have_ to stay here!"

"Professor, this student-"

Dumbledore silenced the numerous outbursts by holding up his hand.

"You will all get a chance to talk with her later," he told the room calmly. "But I'm afraid I really must speak with her and Harry alone."

Madame Pomfrey bustled angrily back to her office, muttering to herself again. The others all nodded and got up to leave, Erin squeezing Amy's hand as she left, Neville and Luna each nodding at her kindly, although Neville's was rather jerky, and Hagrid patting her leg comfortingly, making her bounce up and down a few times on the bed.

"Thank you!" Amy called as they all went through the doors, because she thought it was the right thing to; they had come to see her in the hospital, after all. She also thanked Hermione and Ginny, and even Ron, although he was still unconscious, before Madame Pomfrey brought over curtains to give them some privacy, and Dumbledore cast a charm to make it so that no one could hear them.

"Am I in trouble?" Amy asked shakily.

"No, no," said Dumbledore pleasantly. "We merely need to discuss your apparent gift for having visions."

"Is she …a Seer?" Harry asked awkwardly.

"Perhaps," replied the Headmaster. "But she seems to be different than any Seer I've ever met. Have you told me about all of your dreams?" he asked Amy.

"Uh, yeah…but not the most recent ones…you were gone…urghhh…" Amy slumped forward slightly, suddenly feeling heavy. Before she knew how he got there, Harry was at her side, a firm grip on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asked sharply.

"Nothing…I just…the dazedly happy feeling is going away," Amy said, upset for some reason.

"It's simply the after-affects of the sleeping potion lifting," said Dumbledore sympathetically. "You'll be fine."

Amy nodded, feeling slightly nauseous. "But…but, yeah," she continued, forcing her mind to think. "I told you about every dream. The ones I had when you were gone were basically the same as all the other ones…except of course the one where I saw Harry and everyone in trouble."

"Yes, Miss Waters and Mr. Milton told us about that particular one. They said you were convinced it was real."

"Well, it was!" exclaimed Amy, feeling some of her earlier frustration returning. What if Dumbledore didn't believe her?

"Indeed it was," Dumbledore assured her, and Amy sighed with relief. "But I find it interesting how there seemed to be a link between Harry's dreams and yours."

Neither Amy nor Harry said anything, but waited patiently for the Headmaster to continue. Amy didn't even notice she wasn't breathing; she had waited all year for the answers to her questions, and she finally seemed to be getting some.

"Harry's dreams came through his connection with Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore continued, and didn't even seem surprised when Amy didn't jump at the name. "When Voldemort was feeling particularly emotional, and his mind was weaker, Harry could enter his thoughts while sleeping. It was in this manner that Voldemort was able to set a trap to get Harry to the Department of Mysteries by giving him a vision similar to yours."

"That's Sirius?" Amy exclaimed suddenly, making Harry jump. "In my dreams there was a man who flickered at the end of an isle, as if he wasn't there. Was that the trap?"

Dumbledore nodded, and everything suddenly made more sense to Amy, regardless of the remaining holes in the explanation. _They've got Sirius in the Department of Mysteries_…Sirius was the man in her dreams, and it was all a trap.

For some reason Harry seemed to get very tense at the subject of Sirius, and although Amy wondered why, she thought it best to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Will Voldemort be able to do that to Harry again?" she asked worriedly.

"I don't think so," replied Dumbledore. "Voldemort could not stand the pain of possessing Harry, and will surely realise that Harry is smart enough not to play into his hands again, so I think Harry is safe from mind intrusions for now."

Amy noticed how Dumbledore had said "for now" and had mentioned Harry being possessed, but let it go for the moment.

"So what about _my_ dreams, then? They were a bit different."

"Indeed," agreed Dumbledore. "Unlike Harry's, your dream showed you that what lay ahead was a trap. You also saw the corridor to the Department of Mysteries not from Voldemort's point of view, but from your own. You even saw glimpses of where Harry stayed over the summer and Christmas holidays, something Harry has recently assured me had never happened to him."

"That corridor led to the Department of Mysteries?" Amy asked. This fact seemed to have hit her harder than any other, and she was still having trouble thinking clearly enough to have made this connection before.

Dumbledore nodded.

"Oh. I wondered…."

"So, Amy's dreams don't come from Voldemort, right?" Harry said, looking up at the Headmaster. "They come from her own power."

Dumbledore nodded. "It would seem that way. Especially since, according to Miss Waters and Mr. Milton, Amy was having visions while she was quite awake during their trip to the Ministry."

"Yeah, and they were accompanied by blinding headaches…" muttered Amy, but then she remembered something. "Oh, yeah! When my head hurt, it often felt like the pain was coming from a scare on my forehead, like Harry's…except that I don't have one."

Harry looked slightly alarmed, but Dumbledore smiled sympathetically. "That was probably due to the relation between your visions and Harry. Harry was the one who you saw in danger, and who's scare hurt at moments. Had your visions been about someone else, for example…"

"So you're saying that if my visions concerned Hermione most, I would probably feel pain in my back from lugging too many books around?" Amy asked.

"Perhaps," replied Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling, and Harry's lip even twitched upward.

"But…sir," said Harry after a short pause, "There's something I still don't get. Amy had visions, like a Seer, but Trelawney makes prophecies…and – er – uses crystal balls and stuff."

Amy frowned. Trelawney made prophesies? Were they accurate? Could that be why Dumbledore wanted her to stay at Hogwarts?

"Yes…" said Dumbledore. "I'm not quite sure if Amy is a Seer, like Professor Trelawney – who by the way, Harry, has been reinstated as Professor and you must now address her as such – but Amy clearly possesses the power to See, not just what lies ahead or elsewhere, but also through deceit. We shall have to monitor her abilities closely to find answers to these questions, and, of course, make sure these visions remain safe…"

"Um, I'm still here, you know." Amy was getting a little irritated of the way they were talking as if she wasn't in the room.

"Apologies," said Dumbledore, nodding in her direction, and she nodded back. After a slight pause, he continued. "I must be off, now, I'm afraid. However, please keep me informed of all your dreams and visions, Amy, as well as any unusual headaches, throughout this year and the next. During the summer, I can be reached in an emergency by owl, although mention only that you need help, as owls can be intercepted. Please tell me about any visions you have during the holidays upon your return to Hogwarts next year."

Amy nodded, her heart sinking. Dumbledore had reminded her of something: _summer_. A knot formed in her stomach as she wondered if she'd be able to return home.

But before she could ponder this question any further, Dumbledore was waving at them in farewell and stepping outside the curtain, and Harry was fixing her with an unblinking stare.

She leaned away from her cousin. "….What?" she asked carefully.

"Why did you do that?" he asked simply.

"Do…what?"

Harry sighed. "Come to the Ministry to try to help me. You could have just stayed here, where you'd be safe."

"Harry, I wasn't in that much danger. Unless, of course, you count being in close proximity to Fudge as dangerous. And I probably would have passed out anyway, I can't control my visions."

"You were in the same room as Voldemort," said Harry gravely. "I'd say that counts as pretty dangerous."

"But I needed to warn you! And Erin and Nick are okay too, so-"

"You were this far away from a killing curse hitting you," said Harry through gritted teeth, holding up his hands at about two feet apart.

That startled Amy quite a bit. "Really?" she asked, unconsciously biting her lip.

Harry just looked at her.

"Well, it's not like that's never happened to you!" she exclaimed defensively.

"That's just the point!" Harry almost yelled. "I know I do a lot of dangerous things, but that doesn't mean _you_ have to! I don't want you getting involved in these kinds of things because I have and I've almost _died_!"

"That's not the point," said Amy, frustrated. "I can't just know these things and not try to help. Erin, Nick and I helped Ron and everyone escape Umbridge's office, and they said you were in trouble, and we couldn't help. So you know what we did? We did the only thing we could and went to _get_ help. We got Snape, and then we went to alert the Aurors-"

"But you didn't _have_ to!" exclaimed Harry. "Dumbledore brought lots of help-"

"Well how am I supposed to know that?" Amy yelled, cutting him off. "I can't – I _don't_, because you won't tell me, and so I improvise, I do what I can to help-"

"_But you don't have to_!" repeated Harry wildly. "Why can't you understand that? This is _my_ fight! _I'm_ the Boy-Who-Lived, you don't have to help me!"

For some reason hearing that calmed Amy down. "You're right, I don't have to help."

Harry sighed with relief.

"But I _want_ to."

Harry looked at her sharply, but instead of yelling again, he studied her for a moment, before finally saying, "You remind me of me a lot."

"Huh?" said Amy, puzzled.

"Hermione says I have a … _saving people thing_," Harry continued, ignoring Amy's bewildered look. "If I know something's wrong, I just have to help, whether it's a good idea or not." He looked at her seriously again. "Watch out for that, it can be a weakness."

Amy just blinked confusedly.

Harry sighed. "All that aside, I…well, I kind of want to thank you, 'cause…" he trailed off and tossed a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ on her bed.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Read it."

Amy looked at the headline, which said, in huge bold letters: HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED RETURNS, with an article continuing down the rest of the page, and on the next few pages over, Amy soon discovered, as she ripped through them.

"How'd this happen?" she asked slowly.

"You brought the Minister down to the Atrium in time to see Voldemort," replied Harry simply. "That paper is a few days old, though, now they're full of the latest news on what they think he's planning and suspected sightings, articles on how to protect yourself, that sort of thing…oh, and of course the interview I printed in the Quibbler."

"It says a bunch of Death Eaters were captured," commented Amy, reading a bit of the article.

"Dumbledore managed to round up the ones in the Department of Mysteries," explained Harry. "The Ministry officials put them in Azkaban, which, I guess, is also thanks to you," he finished stubbornly.

"Don't mention it," said Amy, winking, knowing it annoyed him to think that none of those things would have happened if she had stayed at Hogwarts like he had wanted. She scanned the rest of the article. "So I see you're a hero again."

"Yeah…" Harry sighed.

Amy closed the newspaper and caught sight of the date. Suddenly, something Harry had said earlier came back to her…_that paper is a few days old_…

"What day is it?" she asked, bracing herself.

"Huh?"

"You said this paper was a few days old," Amy elaborated, "So what day is it now? How many days was I asleep?"

Harry bit his lip, not meeting her eyes, which Amy thought was a pity, because that way he couldn't see her glaring at him.

"_How many days_?"

He took a deep breath. "Three and a half."

"THREE AND A HALF DAYS!"

"Er – y-yes," replied Harry, after having landed back in his chair from jumping in fright. "We were all pretty worried."

"How could I have slept for _three and a half days_?" Amy asked angrily.

Harry shrugged meekly.

Amy sighed. "What curse hit Nick then, if he's still sleeping?"

"Oh, no, don't worry," Harry assured her quickly, as though worried she would blow up again. "He's already woken up, he just needs to sleep a lot to recover."

"But he's going to be okay?"

Harry nodded, smiling for some reason.

"What?" Amy asked, annoyed that he found this amusing.

"It's just… This reminds me of when I woke up here after I went down the trap door with Ron and Hermione my first year here," he replied. "I think I was actually in the exact same bed you're sitting in now."

Amy frowned. "And why is that funny?"

"Well, it's not, really," said Harry, thinking. "It's just eerily similar, that's all. I woke up, and I was really worried about my friends, because I knew if anything had happened to them, it would be my fault."

"Why would it be your fault?"

"Because I led them into danger," her cousin replied, as though it was obvious.

"But surely you didn't force them to come along?"

"No, of course not! I told them they could go back if they wanted, but-"

"So it wouldn't have been your fault," Amy told him with certainty. "It was their choice to come with you."

"Like it was Erin and Nick's choice to come with you," Harry said.

Amy frowned. "No…well, yes, I mean…but we sort of skipped the whole noble thing where I tell them I'm going to save my cousin and they don't have to come along."

"Why?" Harry's tone wasn't accusatory, but curious.

"B-because," stuttered Amy. She hadn't really thought about it. "The thought of not going together didn't really cross our minds. I mean, Nick said multiple times that it might be better if we stayed here, but as soon as Erin and I said we'd leave without him, he agreed to come along."

"Funny," said Harry after a long pause.

"Why?" asked Amy.

Harry shrugged. "It's just, you guys are so close that you didn't even think of going it alone, whereas I keep thinking I should, just to keep everyone out of danger." He plucked at the hem of his robes sadly.

"Well, the way I see it, that's not really your decision to make," said Amy, and Harry looked up. "People are going to help if they want to, and you don't really have the right to tell them they can't. Besides, with Voldemort back, everyone's going to be in danger anyways, so what's the point of trying to be all noble and making it harder for everyone?"

Harry paused. "I never thought about it like that."

"And _I'd_ never really thought about it at all…until now, that is," replied Amy.

They sat in silence for a while longer, until Amy burst out, much in the same fashion as she had in the elevator, "Why didn't you tell me about Sirius Black?"

Harry's face suddenly closed, so she couldn't read his expression. "What do you mean?"

"Voldemort made a trap for you and Sirius was the bate," Amy explained. "But from what I know, Sirius is the one that betrayed your parents, so why would you risk your life to go and save him?" Amy studied Harry's face carefully, which was difficult, as he was looking away. "It doesn't add up."

Harry continued to say nothing, so Amy added, "Look, I know you can't tell me everything, but it would be really great if you could trust me with-"

Harry's head snapped back towards her. "I _do_ trust y-"

"_I'm not finished yet_!" Amy exclaimed and Harry blinked in surprise. "It would be nice if you could trust me with certain bits of information like that, you know, to sort of give me a head's up! I know you think you can protect me by not telling me anything important, but being ignorant isn't going to help me either! I also know there's some stuff I'm _not allowed_ not know, but at least find a balance where I'm not flying blind!"

"I would prefer it if you weren't flying at all," Harry replied seriously. Before Amy could protest again, he continued quietly, "Sirius is my Godfather. He…he looks out for me."

Amy just looked at him, positive the expression on her face did not say much for her intelligence.

He sighed. "When Voldemort was after my parents, they went into hiding. They used a Fidelius Charm…it's a spell that makes it so no one can find you unless one person, the Secret Keeper, tells them."

Amy listened patiently, sensing that this was a sore subject for him.

"My parents picked Sirius, but then switched to Peter Pettigrew at the last minute, without telling anyone. He was the one who betrayed my parents to Voldemort." He looked over at Amy. "You know the story of Pettigrew, right?"

Amy nodded. With so many Death Eaters on the loose and all of Hogwarts talking about it, it was hard not to.

"Well, he's an Animagus – someone who can turn into an animal," he elaborated at Amy's confused look. "He turned into his rat form and made it look like Sirius killed him. He framed him…" Harry finished, mumbling.

"…That sucks." At times like this, that was all Amy could ever think to say.

"So you believe me?" Harry asked, looking bewildered.

"Should I not have?" inquired Amy, equally as bewildered.

"Well, just, most people wouldn't believe it."

Amy just looked at him exasperatedly. It had never even crossed her mind that he wasn't telling the truth.

"Oh," said Harry meekly, catching her unspoken point. "Right."

She paused for a long moment before saying, "So…you and Ron and Hermione and Neville, Luna, Ginny and Dumbledore all made it out okay…was there anyone else there?" she asked suddenly, hoping no one was hurt.

"Yeah…but don't worry, they'll all be okay," replied Harry, knowing she was worried.

Amy sighed. "Oh, good…and Sirius, he's okay too?"

Very abruptly, Harry looked away, not answering her.

A knot tied in Amy's stomach, which didn't really make sense to her, since she had thought Sirius a murderer until a minute ago. "Harry…"

Still he said nothing.

"Harry, it won't help not to tell me," she said softly. "I – is Sirius okay?" she repeated the question anxiously.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Harry shook his head.

"What happened?" Amy didn't even hear herself ask the question.

"He…he didn't… he fell…" Harry's voice broke, and suddenly Amy knew that some horrible, heart-crushing, stomach twisting thing had happened to Sirius, and as she watched her cousin, who was obviously holding in some sort of pain, she became very surprised to find tears falling down her own face instead of his.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, fairly distraught. "That's not fair! Why should I have to be so upset? I didn't even know him!" Harry looked over as she tried to dry her eyes on her bed sheet. "Why am I crying?" she asked again, her throat becoming tight. "I've never even met him…. It's so stupid."

"It's not stupid," said Harry quietly. He paused, and swallowed. "You know, he – he wanted to meet you."

"Really?" asked Amy, looking up. "Why?"

Harry shrugged. "He's my godfather. Anything important that had to do with me was something he wanted to know about. Anyone related to me was someone he wanted to meet. He said…he said you sounded like a good person."

Amy laughed bitterly. "Naw…I can't be a good person, can I?"

"Why not?" asked Harry.

Amy sighed. "Because I like to think I'm a good person, but then I think that's incredibly selfish, which makes me think I'm not a good person at all. It's a vicious cycle."

"That's why no one is ever very good at judging their own character," Harry said, offering her a tissue, and she gave him a small smile. "And Sirius…that's an example of why I don't want you involved in the battle against Voldemort."

Amy looked him in the eye, suddenly understanding fully what he meant when he said that.

"But…" Harry continued, "You're right, keeping you in the dark won't help either, so…so I'll try and tell you more stuff, keep you more prepared."

Amy brightened a bit. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Harry paused. "Because I've had the same problem, being kept in the dark, because someone was trying to protect me…" Harry sighed. "And that didn't work out too well."

He looked sadly off into space, and Amy wished she could think of some way of comforting him. But she couldn't, so instead she placed her hand on his, and he held onto it for a long while, as she wondered who could have possibly kept secrets from him.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Amy stared blankly at the page in front of her, not even noticing her porridge on the table, which was getting increasingly colder, as her stomach seemed to sink lower and lower. _No_. That's all she could think, over and over in her head. _No, no, no_…

"Amy, are you going to eat that, or can I read your letter?" asked Erin, her tone halfway between worried and joking.

Amy numbly passed her the letter she had received from Tomas just a few moments ago. She had been out of the hospital wing for three days now (although she kept returning so that Madame Pomfrey could check up on her and so that she could visit Ron and Hermione, who were still hospitalised, and getting increasingly irritated) and had plucked up her courage and sent a letter to her brother asking if she could go home for the summer holidays. Her nerves had been practically fried over the next few days as she waited anxiously for his response, which might have explained her current numbness.

"I'm sorry, Amy," said Nick gloomily, after he was done reading the letter with Erin.

"What am I going to do?" asked Amy, although she was not quite sure if she was voicing her thoughts aloud or not.

She must have been, however, because Erin asked, "What do you mean?"

"Where am I going to stay?" Amy was beginning to panic now; she could feel it in the bottom of her gut. "I suppose I could ask Dumbledore if I can stay here…"

"Don't be stupid, you're coming to my place," said Erin matter-of-factly.

Amy turned to face her friend for the first time. "What?"

"I thought this might happen, so I sent a letter to my mum, asking if you could stay the summer, and you can," Erin elaborated. "And you can come for some of it, too," she added, turning to Nick.

Amy blinked. She was fairly sure Nick was telling Erin he'd be glad to get away from his place for a while.

"You'll have to stay in my room, so it'll be kind of squishy, but my brothers always come home for the summer holidays to visit." Erin was talking to Amy again.

"I can seriously stay with you?" Amy asked quite suddenly.

Erin looked a little taken aback. "Yes."

"For the whole summer?"

"Yeah…"

"And it won't be a problem, you're family's okay with it?"

"_Yes_, I mean, unless you'd rather-"

But Erin was suddenly finding it hard to breath due to the redhead beside her hugging her to death.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Amy exclaimed, very relieved, as she finally let her friend go. Truth be told, Amy hadn't really been looking forward to going home and facing her mother, partly because she was ashamed of what she'd done, and partly because she was still mad, and knew her mum would be, too.

Nick was still laughing at both girls when some welcome company arrived.

"Hello, all," called Luna dreamily, sitting down beside Neville, who had also come to join them.

"Hi!" replied Erin cheerfully. "How are you guys?"

"Pretty good," said Neville half-heartedly.

"Everyone's so gloomy," grumbled Erin, crossing her arms.

"Well, I supposed they all have reason to be, after what happened," stated Luna calmly.

Erin just sighed.

"So has Harry been doing any better?" asked Neville, looking over at Amy.

"How should I know?" answered Amy, shrugging as she spread jam on the toast that was replacing her now stone-cold porridge. "He doesn't really talk much anymore, especially not to me."

"Why especially not to you?" asked Neville.

Amy shrugged again. "Haven't a clue."

"What about you two?" asked Erin, "Are you guys getting better?"

"Neville wasn't hurt very badly, so his injuries were fixed very quickly by Madame Pomfrey, and I didn't get hurt," replied Luna, stating the obvious.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," said Erin sincerely, although her mouth twitched upwards a little at Luna's tone, which had remained the same as always.

"And you guys?" asked Neville, surveying all three first years across from him.

"We're alright," replied Nick. "A little gloomy, sure, and Amy still has to get checkups done, but we're really okay."

"When'd you get out of the hospital wing?" asked Neville, nodding at Nick.

"A few days ago," he answered, unconsciously rubbing his shoulder, where Amy knew he'd been hit. "I only had to stay a few days, I'm fine."

"How about you?" Luna asked dreamily, turning to Amy. "Are you still having nightmares?"

"Yeah," sighed Amy. "But they're the regular kind. No vision-y ones. I keep having nightmares about what I _saw_ in my visions, but…"

"How do you know they're not visions?" asked Neville quietly.

"I donno," replied Amy, realising this for the first time. "I just sort of…do."

The rest of the meal was spent conversing on more pleasant topics, such as Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup, and all of them having attained well enough marks on their exams.

It was the last day before students were to return home that Amy finally plucked up the courage to take up Hagrid's offer and visit him.

"Oh! Well, 'ello there!" he said when he opened the door and saw her standing there. "Did yeh er…want ter come in for some tea?"

Amy nodded silently and walked into the small cabin, taking in the scene before her. Hagrid seemed to live in nothing more than a particularly squashy summer cottage, but it felt simple, and homey, so she was able to relax a little as Hagrid made tea. She spoke only to say thank you to Hagrid when he placed a rather large cup of tea in front of her.

"Rock cakes?" he asked.

Amy's lip twitched upwards as she shook her head, remembering when Harry had warned her many months before never to eat them.

"So…ah…well, lovely surprise, havin' yeh here," began Hagrid awkwardly. "Really glad yeh came…but, uh, any particular reason yeh did?"

Amy chuckled softly. "So that I could talk to someone without having to be fine, or say that everything's okay," she answered, talking into her teacup.

Hagrid nodded. "So…wha's buggin' yeh?"

Amy sighed. "Well…mostly Harry. He's been really distant…which is understandable, of course, but…I don't know, I just kind of feel like an outsider. He would trust Ron and Hermione with anything, he always wants them with him on his adventures, despite what he says… but I'm always shut out…he's always trying to _protect me_…"

"Blockin' someone out is one of the unfortunate side effects of tryin' to protect 'em," said Hagrid wisely, patting Amy's hand and making the table shake. "Sometimes there's nothin' much yeh can do abou' tha'."

"Except I _want_ to do something," replied Amy, letting out all of her frustration of the past few days. "I want to be useful, to be in the loop, to help…but he won't let me do that."

Hagrid sighed. "'Arry's always had this thing where he thinks everythin' is his responsibility, tha' it's up ter him ter protect everyone…" Hagrid looked Amy right in the eye. "Yer the o'ny person 'ee considers real family. Those Dursleys are nothin' bu' trouble, and the Weasleys are like his second family…but yer las' name is Evans, yer connected ter him through blood…. 'Arry never though' he'd have someone who was his real family."

"The Weasleys should be his real family," said Amy quietly. "And Hermione."

"Ah, they will be…give it time…eventually he'll realise tha'. But it doesn't change the fact tha' yer his li'l cousin…ee's over-protective of yeh."

Amy sighed. "Yeah…I guess. It's just, I feel so useless! The war will always revolve around Harry, because he's the one Voldemort wants dead the most-" she looked up at the sound of a splash to see Hagrid mopping his front: he had spilled his tea when he had heard Amy use Voldemort's name.

"So his habits have rubbed off on yeh, have they?" he asked, annoyed.

For some reason this was so funny that Amy burst out laughing. She didn't understand _why_ she was laughing, but she just couldn't stop, so she just laughed for a while, and Hagrid's eyes grew warm, and he refilled her still almost-full tea mug, and waited for her to calm down.

When she did, she said, slightly less gloomily, "If the war always revolves around Harry, and he keeps pushing me away from it, I'll never be able to help…I'll always be in the background."

Hagrid smiled fondly at her. "Yer a lot like him, aren't yeh?"

Amy blinked, surprised.

"Always wantin' ter be in the middle of things, always wantin' ter know everything…" He sighed. "Bu' there are a lot o' people who already know, an' they can handle tha'. Yeh migh' be more useful ter 'Arry if yeh _were_ in the backgroun'. E' can figure things out from yer visions, 'cause Dumbledore said we could trust em'…" –Amy squirmed uncomfortably, fidgeting with the handle of her mug- "So if yer not righ' there with him all the time, tha's okay. The war _needs_ people like yeh, '_Arry_ needs people like yeh…people who can help, bu' aren't in constant danger, people they can talk to abou' other things…" Amy looked up at him. "I know it's hard, bu' yer in a good position ter help… we need folks like yeh an' yer friends ter help with other things…trus' me, yer roll's important."

And while Amy still wasn't convinced, she left Hagrid's hut later that day feeling better, and with a slight craving for eatable rock cakes, which Dobby, who came to the common room later that evening to say goodbye for the summer, happily provided.

The welcoming feast later that night, although Harry was still depressed, Ron and Hermione were still wincing from their injuries, and everyone was scared stiff that Voldemort was back, was one of the best evenings Amy had had in a very long time. Just like at Christmas, she forgot the world outside, pretended she just didn't care, and enjoyed herself for her last night at Hogwarts until the next year. It was like Erin said: there was good food, and good people to eat it with, and no one was dropping a bomb on their heads, so life was good.

Amy slept peacefully that night for the first time in ages, but was the last to leave the dormitory the next morning, despite having packed the night before.

"Ready?" asked Erin, poking her head through the door, "You're going to miss the boats if you don't hurry."

"Yeah," sighed Amy, leaning against her bedpost and looking around the room. It seemed so bare without things sticking out of her drawers, without Erin's many extra pillows on her messy bed as well as her Quidditch posters all over the walls and the charmed bed sheets Carry and René had hung by a wire in front of the window because they had taken down the curtains to serve as rugs for the floor beside their beds, claiming they didn't keep enough light out.

"We'll come back next year," Erin told her reassuringly. "To this very room. No matter what happens during the summer, no matter what Voldemort pulls, we'll still come back."

"True," said Amy. "But…I just wish I didn't have to leave. I can't even go home, because I chose to come here instead, so…I donno, it just feels weird…like if I leave here, I won't really have a home." She looked up at her friend. "Am I crazy?"

Erin chuckled. "No. Well, at least, _I _don't think so, anyway, but that's not saying much." She sat down on her own bed. Then, quite suddenly, she said, "Do you regret it?"

Amy blinked. "Regret what?"

"Leaving home. Coming to Hogwarts."

Amy thought about that and shuttered. It was a pretty frightening thought. Never learning about magic, never meeting Erin and Nick and Harry and everyone else, feeling miserable because she was different than the world she knew for the rest of her life…

"No," she said. "I wouldn't take back what I did, even if I could. Not even for my mum or Tomas, or even Tara, who's still one of my best friends. I love them, but I'm glad I came here instead of staying."

"Well then," said Erin, once again sounding chipper where no one else would manage it. "Then maybe that's not your home anymore. Maybe it's more like your dream vacation spot. Maybe Hogwarts is your home now, which is why you'll be back here, two months from now."

"That makes sense," replied Amy, all of this sentimental thinking tiring her out. Then something entirely random popped into her head. "Hey, Erin?"

"Yeah?"

"That thing you thought of in the elevator at the Ministry, the one you never told us about but said you would?"

"Uh-huh?"

"What was that?"

"Oh. I just thought that perhaps Harry, Ron and Hermione had seen Sirius on the Marauder's Map, you know, when he entered the castle in their third year, and they might have found out something about him then, like the fact that he's actually innocent."

That very fact had been one of the many big headlines scattered across the front page of the _Daily Prophet_ in the last few days.

"So that's why you couldn't say what you were thinking? 'Cause we're not allowed to tell Nick about the Marauder's map?"

"Pretty much."

"It does feel weird to keep secrets from him," Amy confessed.

"True," replied Erin. "But it's not really our secret to keep."

Amy nodded, and there was silence for a while.

"So…you ready to go?" Erin finally asked.

"Just about," Amy smiled. "But there's one last thing I think we should do before we leave."

"What's that?" asked Erin.

Which was when Amy grabbed her pillow and threw it, with impeccable aim, right at Erin's face.

"AHHH!" screamed Erin, and the pillow fight that came next resulted in them being so late that they almost did miss the boats back across the lake. The boat ride was almost just as aw-inspiring as the first one, and it made Amy sad to think that she would never have the chance to do it again; Erin had said that next year they would arrive by horseless carriage.

Soon after they got on the train they were almost at King's Cross - or so it seemed to Amy - and it was time for the goodbyes.

"I hate this part," muttered Erin, as Hermione gave her a one-armed hug in farewell. "It's much more fun to be saying hello than goodbye."

"True," Hermione chuckled, squeezing Nick's shoulder before coming to hug Amy. "But look on the bright side, we'll get to say hello in two months."

Erin brightened and Ron smiled and ruffled her hair, then did the same to Amy and gave Nick a pat on the back. Harry shook both Erin and Nick's hands, although the former teased him for his formality. Then he came over to Amy.

"Stay out of trouble, now," he told her, trying to be stern and resisting a smile.

"Same to you," Amy smiled. "And don't forget to write!" she said quickly.

Harry chuckled as Ron and Hermione started helping Erin and Nick unload their luggage from the train. "I won't."

"And don't sink too far into depression, it's bad, take it from me, I know." Amy was talking faster than she was thinking, but she knew she had to tell Harry this now, when she could see him, and not when he might be refusing to answer her mail for one reason or another.

"Don't worry. Hopefully I won't stay too long with the Dursleys, so that'll help."

Amy nodded. "But make sure and tell me if they're horrible to you because I know they usually are and they shouldn't be aloud to lock you in a cupboard-"

"Amy, I'll be okay," Harry cut her off. "Besides, the Dursleys haven't locked me in that cupboard for years. I just need to know if you'll be alright…I know you can't go home or anything…"

Amy smiled sadly. "I'll be okay."

Harry looked at her sceptically.

"Well, I'm sure Erin's folks won't starve me to death, at any rate," she added on a more cheerful note.

Harry smiled back at her, and then pulled her into a hug. Amy was slightly startled; he had never really hugged her before. She hugged back anyway, knowing she wouldn't see Harry, the only relative she had that she could still talk to everyday, for what felt like a very long time.

"Bye, Harry," she said when they pulled apart. "At least _try_ to have a good summer."

Harry sighed sarcastically. "Well, I suppose…" He smiled at her one last time, and then with a wave of his hand, he disappeared into the crowd, looking for Ron and Hermione.

However, Amy didn't have much time to stare sadly after him, as no sooner had he left than Erin and Nick showed up beside her, each grabbing onto one of her arms and dragging her towards their luggage.

"It's summer vacation, Amy! This is no time to be sulking!" Erin reprimanded her.

"Yeah, and I'm the only exception to that rule!" added Nick, cheery for once.

"Ah, we'll get you outta there soon enough," Erin assured him, referring to his house as the three friends picked up their trunks and began wheeling them through the crowded station to the barrier.

They waved as they passed friends from the DA and members of their year. Amy and Erin shared high fives with René and Carrie, and Neville and Luna even came up to them to wish them a good summer.

Amy hardly noticed that they got in line to get through the barrier. She was busy looking around everywhere, trying to remember each familiar face, every part of the scenery, every tiny detail, unable to make the tiny voice at the back of her mind stop repeating that because Voldemort was out in the open, something terrible might happen and she might never come back.

"You three ready?" asked the wizard next to the barrier who was letting students out in twos and threes.

"Huh?" said Amy, coming out of her reverie.

"It's our turn to go through the barrier," Nick answered slowly, mocking her.

Amy glared at him before turning to Erin.

"Ready to go back to the regular world?" Erin asked, smiling.

Amy laughed. "Nope!" she exclaimed, and then grabbed both her friends by their sleeves and ran them, luggage and all, through the barrier wall.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Oh, my. Will you look at how much I've written? That's a lot to read. I do sympathise, but then again, you didn't have to edit it.

For the last time, unless you look at my profile page, if you could please, _please_ go to the top of chapter 20 and read the IMPORTANT! a/n, that would be wonderful. You are ever so kind.

And by the way, I'm really sorry that Sirius still had to die, but that's just the way it had to be. I know it sucks.

Anyway, I'm done! (The first part of three) Wheeeeeeee! The freedom! I must eat chocolate to celebrate!

I will post the sequel as soon as I can. It will be titled _One Last Hope: The Lightning Struck Tower_. Yes, I know that is a chapter title from book 6. Also, keep in mind that before I post it, I will be re-editing this entire fic, cause it needs it.

Thanks again to all my wonderful readers and reviewers! Now this _is _the last chapter, so you should review, you know, to tell me how my first story was. :) Please? Constructive criticism helps me, compliments motivate me (heehee), and flames are bad but will give me a much-needed laugh (seriously, they'll be treated like comic relief).

Thank you.

This is Little Lily Granger, signing out! (or something witty like that)

:D


End file.
